When treating an abused elderly person with massage therapy, the therapist should assess all the risk factors of possible disease. In this case there would be several, (age, genetics, and gender) with the focus being on environment, and stress. In an abuse situation the stress would be great, causing a weakened immune system. The environment of an abused person would most likely be neglected. The combination of stress and lower standards of environment care and awareness would put this client at a very high risk for acquiring any virus or bacteria. Combined with the client’s age (slower recovery, etc.), the client is a prime host for pathogens. The massage therapist should proceed with extreme caution and use all methods of infection control that would apply to this type of situation.
Tags: Massage Pathology, Massage Pathology Chronicles, Senior Citizen Edlerly Massage Therapy Pathology
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