Military Veterans and Massage Therapy

Examine the structure of and procedures for integrating new services at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), including the progress being made in acceptance for complementary services, such as massage therapy, and how to massage therapists can get involved in their local VA care centers. When you complete this course you will be able to:

• Understand how the Department of Veterans Affairs functions 
• Understand how to advance massage therapy as part of the standard benefits package for veterans.
• Define common acronyms in use by the Veterans Administration.
• Detail the effects of pain, opioids and combat on veterans and how massage therapy can be a non-pharmacological alternative.
• Describe current research on and usage of complementary and integrative health therapies at the VA.
• Define ways to overcome barriers to massage therapy at the VA.
• Describe the special considerations needed for veterans receiving massage

1. The VA and Veterans Care
2. The Hierarchy of Care at the VA
3. Veterans Choice Program
4. Massage Therapy and the VA
5. How CIH Approaches Advance within the VA
6. Veterans’ Pain and Non-pharmacological Alternatives
7. Integrating Massage Therapy into VA Health Care
8. Massage Therapy for Pain: an Evidence Map
9. Massage Therapy Gaining Ground in the VA
10. Success with a New Directive
11. Barriers to Massage Therapy in the VA
12. Looking at Acupuncture and the VA
13. Next Steps in Advocacy of Massage Therapy
14. Veteran Clients
15. How to do Intake with Veteran Clients
16. Massage Therapy for Veteran Clients
17. Resources

Rebekah Blowers, MSHS, NCBTMB, LMT, is a graduate of the Potomac Massage Training Institute and an NCBTMB-approved provider. She had eight years of honorable service with the U.S. Navy and currently works for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Her goal in studying health administration is to bring reform and complementary integrative health – specifically massage therapy – to other veterans.

Course Expiration

Please note that you must complete each AMTA online learning course and pass the exam one year from the date of purchase. If you do not complete the course and pass the exam within one year, you will be required to re-purchase the course.

Online courses expire one year from the date of purchase. When a course expires, you will no longer have access to the course materials and will be required to re-purchase the course.

Course Approval Code(s)

LCEU0003762, MS#228

Copyright

This course contains information that is proprietary. None of the material contained within this course may be used without the express written permission of AMTA unless otherwise indicated in the course. As a reminder, before practicing any new modalities or techniques, check with your state’s massage therapy regulatory authority to ensure they are within the state’s defined scope of practice for massage therapy.

Refunds

Online courses are non-refundable. AMTA will not cover fees incurred from duplicate payments, insufficient funds, stopped payments or credit/debit cards over credit limits.