Mica Rosenow, a doctoral student in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, is seeking participant recruitment assistance for a research study examining the impact of massage on mood, emotions, and attitude during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Building research suggests detrimental mental health side effects related to COVID-related touch hunger and I hope to effectively utilize this unique time in our field’s history to conduct meaningful research on massage’s relationship to human affective characteristics,” Rosenow says.
The study seeks to examine and describe affective characteristics of those who begin, continue, or abstain from massage treatment in a time of unknown or ambiguous health risks. Rosenow is seeking anyone 18 and older either (1) attending a massage therapy session between now and March 2021 or (2) who regularly received massage prior to the COVID-19 pandemic but has not re-accessed massage sessions at time of enrollment. To identify eligible participants, Rosenow is asking massage therapists to forward a digital or print copy of the linked flyer to clients while waiting for their appointment, during regular scheduling procedures, and to those regular pre-COVID clients abstaining from massage due to concerns or regulations. Participation involves completing an online survey prior to receiving a scheduled massage session. Massage therapists who are not currently practicing due to regulations or other reasons may also help by sending the flier to their regular, pre-COVID clients.
For questions or more information, contact mrosenow@iu.edu. To participate, download the flyer here.