Palliative care service at the NIH includes Reiki and other mind-body modalities. (2004)

The combination of high-tech, cutting-edge, research science and the mantle of government support makes the National Institutes of Health (NIH) one of the most important and powerful medical institutions in the United States. The NIH is known for being at the forefront of medicine. What is less known is the NIH’s pioneering attention to holistic, humanistic clinical care. The NIH’s Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland provides medical care for all patients participating in NIH research protocols—7,000 in-patients and 68,000 out-patients each year. These patients come from all over the world and suffer a wide range of conditions, including metastatic cancer, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease, multiple sclerosis, sickle cell anemia, diabetes, emphysema, and mental illness. While the center’s medical staff address patients’ diseases, its Pain and Palliative Care Service (PPCS) addresses their suffering. According to Ann Berger, MD, MSN, who established the service in August 2000, palliative care includes both pain management and relief from psychosocial/spiritual suffering, and is as appropriate for patients focused on cure as it is at end-of-life. To be effective, Berger explains, palliative care must be initiated early, monitored constantly, and adjusted to patients’ changing needs. To this end, PPCS offers ongoing, comprehensive, relationship-based care that is integrated with aggressive, cure-directed treatment. PPCS offers family-oriented care that addresses all symptoms that impact quality of life. PPCS serves patients through a combination of pharmaceutical and nonpharmacologic interventions. The menu of complementary and psychosocial modalities includes acupuncture, Reiki, hypnosis, biofeedback, imagery, relaxation techniques, tai chi, massage therapies, yoga, physical exercise, pet therapy, art therapy, and music therapy. Any of these may be offered separately or in combination therapy with other modalities and/or pharmaceutical treatment. “It’s the integration of all the modalities that works,” Berger states. In addition, Berger’s office houses a traveling tea cart, complete with fine china, garden hats, and boas, designed to lift the spirits of patients and staff. Reiki, a spiritual/vibrational healing practice commonly facilitated through light touch, is one modality that is readily integrated with other therapies. Although it was not on the original menu of services provided by PPCS, Reiki was added after spiritual chaplain and Reiki master Landis Vance observed how quickly it soothed distressed patients during chaplaincy visits. The goal of Reiki treatment is to bring the patient into balance on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. Reiki is flexible in delivery, in that treatment can be offered either as a stand-alone protocol lasting up to an hour, as a brief intervention, or in combination with any medical procedure, medication, or other complementary therapy. Vance frequently uses Reiki in combination with other therapies in the outpatient clinic, and observes that it appears to enhance the effectiveness of other interventions. The Clinical Center’s two Reiki masters (advanced Reiki practitioners who can also train others in Reiki) provide most of the Reiki treatment there. However, other medical personnel have been trained to offer Reiki to patients in acute need, to themselves, and to other staff. Occasionally, the Reiki masters at PPCS train patients they are treating, as well as their family members, to practice Reiki to care for themselves and one another. Both Reiki masters report that family members deeply value having a skill to relieve the patient’s suffering and to support themselves through the multileveled trauma that serious illness brings to a family. Indeed, it is not a specific disease, but rather a patient’s overall state that alerts Berger to suggest Reiki, she says. She looks for anxiety, pain, or evidence of emotional or spiritual distress. Since Reiki soothes psychosocial-spiritual discomfort, Berger says it has the potential to benefit anyone. Additionally, there is preliminary research evidence on biological markers that supports Reiki’s ability to precipitate the relaxation response. According to Joani Hartman, massage therapist and Reiki master at the Clinical Center, Reiki has the ability to soothe even patients undergoing painful procedures, and it is not uncommon for patients screaming with intractable pain to become composed within 5-10 minutes of Reiki Mind-Body Medicine News NEWS