A Career Opportunity
After 26 years of providing massage for dying persons I ‘m excited to see this field within the profession being recognized by mainstream massage schools. With the growth of oncology massage the end of life has finally been brought into the classroom.
The information; however, may be a short section offered within the larger oncology program. If the presentation comes from hospice staff and/or a massage volunteer with a local hospice it may prevail as inspirational yet may not be complete enough to give a practical application for the opening of heart that has been elicited for the practitioner.
The possibility of hospice massage being a career opportunity, in itself, is not the focus. Therefore if you are interested in working with dying persons you may be left wondering how you can generate funding to support your passion.
Certainly if you choose to offer your service to a low income or disenfranchised population then the mission is to seek organizational funding or other community funding sources. However, it’s important to realize that all dying persons do not fall into this category. Working with dying persons offers vast opportunities for a passionate and financially supportive career as a private contractor.
In 1989 after 6 years of volunteering massage services for hospice I was contacted by a court conservator, named Gene. A conservator is a person that handles the business affairs for individuals who can no longer perform the responsibility for themselves.
Gene, asked me to visit his client, Mary, whom after a long hospital stay, was stuck in fetal position. I saw Mary 3 times a week for 2 years before she died. Mary was the beginning of my 20 years to date in private practice with dying persons. In my private practice I am paid by several different methods.
Every Monday I see Susan, now in end stages of Alzheimer’s disease, whom I have been seeing for 11 years. Contracted through Susan’s conservator, I make written reports after each session, and 2 times a month I send the reports and an invoice to her conservator’s office .Invoices are paid within 5 days.
On Wednesday I visited Diane, a client with advanced Parkinson’s disease. A once a week client for 2 years, Diane has moved into an assisted living community and now has massage once every 2 weeks. At the end of the session Diane pays me directly.
On Friday I provided massage for Marjorie, an 89-year-old woman with lung disease and mild dementia who also resides in an assisted living community. I do not discuss payment with Marjorie. I invoice the bank that handles Marjorie’s trust account. Marjorie’s care coordinator arranged this method of payment.
Saturday I will be meeting a new client, Michael, who is in end stages of HIV infection, and in a skilled nursing facility. Michael is alert and will pay me onsite after our session.
In choosing hospice massage as my career, I have always been a private contractor. I find no difficulty in being paid for my services if I am clear about my fees in the initial phone call.
Bridging the gap between compassion and asking for payment, however, takes a great willingness to work on my feelings of self worth, recognition of the skill I bring to the bedside, and viewing my clients as whole individuals.
This is a multi-faceted topic and I look forward to many more postings, and to your comments.
Comments are always welcome and encouraged
Blessings Irene Smith
www.everflowing.org
Irene you are an expert in your field; there is no other like you in the world today. I know this from your classes and from having witnessed your gifts and talents as a teacher and from watching you touch the dying .
Today I work full time as a professional massage therapist and devote a half a day a week at an assisted living facility a half mile away from my home. I receive payment from the caregivers and conservators of my clients. All the people who are admitted into this facility are asked it they would like a massage. My client base is always changing and I know that soon I will have to devote an entire day to this wonderful population. I worked for several years as a one day a week volunteer for a hospice unit in San Francisco and in Oakland and I also volunteered one day a week for a nursing facility in Berkeley. Because of my past training and experience I no longer work as a volunteer.
It has been a wonder-filled learning experience for me these past eight years and I am so grateful to you, Irene, for all of the training you have given me and for the incredible gift of witnessing your inspiring work on so many occasions.
Left by Bud on February 23rd, 2008
Thank you so much for your posting. It gives me hope that some day soon I will find a way to be paid for this work with the dying that I love so much and feel deeply committed to offering. I have been a massage therapist for 18 years and for the last five years I have found my true calling through volunteering to be with those nearing the end of their life as well as taking courses in fine tuning my skills towards this process. Most of my hospice clients are low/no income individuals and the bureaucratical maze of organizational and community funding makes me dizzy. I know the money is there under all that paperwork! Thanks again for your motivational words.
Left by Annie on February 28th, 2008
Irene, what a beautiful experiance, thank you so much for sharing. I have only had one client that was dying. I was out of town when she made her trasition. I longed to give her, and experiance a closing as you had with Celine. You have put an image in my mind of my Georgia to put that longing to rest, thank you.
Left by Vendoni on March 16th, 2008
The forum is a brgihetr place thanks to your posts. Thanks!
Left by Coralie on May 17th, 2011