THERAPEUTIC TOUCH: PROMOTING AND ASSESSING CONCEPTUAL CHANGE AMONG HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS.
Contributors: Michigan State University.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 208
Subjects: Education, Adult and Continuing.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This study examined how health care educators can facilitate the conceptual change necessary for health care professionals to incorporate holistic interventions into their practice. The conceptual change model of Posner and Strike provided a framework for this study. The subjects were eleven registered nurses. The intervention was a two day advanced workshop on Therapeutic Touch. Data were obtained at four time intervals, using written surveys, case studies, audio tapes, and interviews.

An inductive analysis resulted in twelve themes and revealed the additional variable of barriers to implementation in practice. The variable of orientation (holistic/dualistic) was also coded.

The deductive analysis consisted of both process and outcome variables. The process variables were included in the workshop and were verified both by the subjects and a non-attending Therapeutic Touch instructor. These process variables were dissatisfaction with the existing concept, understanding, plausibility, and fruitfulness of the new concept.

The outcome variables derived from a stage theory including two levels of three variables: knowledge, application, and acceptance of the new concept. To evaluate all the data, an alternative rating system was developed for the stage evaluation, including two new variables (barriers and orientation). The results of the outcome analysis demonstrated that the majority of the subjects began at a stage one or two and rose to a stage three one week after the workshop, and then reverted back to stage one or two, two months after the workshop. The factor of barriers strongly contributed to this shift back to stages one and two. Another result was that acceptance of the new concept was found at all three stages rather than only stage three, as proposed by the conceptual change model. A final finding was that conceptual change concerning Therapeutic Touch was maintained better than for holistic interventions.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-10, Section: A, page: 2895.

Thesis (PH.D.)--MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, 1988.

School code: 0128.