Infant Massage: The Importance of Positive Touch
Have you ever wondered if there something more you could be doing to help your patients heal more quickly, or to develop more appropriately, despite all the setbacks imposed by a premature or problematic birth? There is. It is the intentional, focused use of beneficial touch.
This hour-long presentation will give an explanation of the research behind and demonstration of using beneficial, graded, targeted sensory input to help stabilize the Autonomic Nervous System, encourage parent-child bonding, and even facilitate the emergence of reflexes necessary for successful feeding, aimed at both the novice and the experienced therapist giving them a new modality.
Not only can we help stabilize their erratic autonomic nervous systems, helping to promote stability and reduce stress, we can actually facilitate development of oral reflexes necessary for safe feeding. We have spent decades looking at the detrimental effects of the sensory overload our patients in the NICU experience. But we are only beginning to research and use small amounts of focused sensory input for the benefit of these little ones. After a brief review of the current literature on infant massage in general, we will learn and practice specific techniques that are safe to use with even premature infants, leaving with a thorough understanding of how, when, and where to employ them.
- Synthesize the Research basis for Touch as a therapeutic modality
- Discuss three benefits observed clinically of therapeutic touch in the NICU
- Apply three specific therapeutic touch techniques demonstrated in the presentation
Agenda:
| 5 min | Types of Positive Touch |
| 10 min | Research support for Benefits |
| Demonstration and Practice of Techniques: | |
| 15 min | Upper Body |
| 15 min | Lower Body |
| 10 min | Back |
| 5 min | Q and A |
Duration:
1 hour.Jennifer Meyer, M.A., CCC-SLP
Jennifer Meyer is a popular national speaker in the areas of NICU and Pediatric Dysphagia and has received exceptional ratings for her courses. She has over 25 years experience specializing in pediatric feeding disorders, working in Neonatal Intensive Care Units, developing outpatient hospital-based feeding programs, providing consultation and program development for Early Childhood Intervention Programs and Home Health Companies, and serving as Assistant Clinical Professor at Texas Woman’s University and Clinical Coordinator of the Center for Assisting Families with Feeding and Eating (CAFFE).
Disclosures:
Financial:Jennifer Meyer is a co-owner of CEU-Espresso, Inc. and was paid an honorarium for this presentation.
She owns a private practice, Feeding and Dysphagia Resources, P. C. in Denton, TX.
Non-financial:
Jennifer is a personal friend of the developer of the Res-Q Infant Wedge, sometimes mentioned in her presentations.
Content Disclosure:
This learning event does not focus exclusively on any specific product or service.
The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA. |
ASHA CE Provider approval and use of the Brand Block does not imply endorsement of course content, specific products or clinical procedures. |