Jan 6, 2020
This episode features Dr Bridget Candy and Dr Megan Armstrong
(Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department, Division of
Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK). Aromatherapy,
massage and reflexology are widely used in palliative care.
Patients themselves often report that these therapies are helpful.
It is important to demonstrate value for money in health care
service provision including in palliative care. This is the first
systematic review to focus on aromatherapy, massage and reflexology
in palliative care and to synthesise the evidence using established
systematic review methodology. Low-quality trials, and differences
in the nature of the comparison arms and in the type of evaluation
between trials made it difficult to draw any firm conclusions about
the effectiveness of these therapies. Although there was limited
evidence on the effectiveness of aromatherapy, massage and
reflexology equally no evidence of harm was reported. Heterogeneity
across the body of trials suggests the need for theoretical
research to understand more clearly how complementary therapies are
delivered in palliative care and the best way to measure any
purported benefits.