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What's Happening at the RMTAO
Early Bird Insurance Rates End Next Week
Early bird rates for professional liability insurance through the Trisura Portal end in 5 days.
If you haven't renewed already and renew your professional liability insurance through the Trisura Portal by September 15, you have access to the early bird insurance rate of just $85 for your PLI!
Members who purchase their PLI through the Trisura Portal also have access to free unlimited legal consultations.
PLI through the Trisura Portal is only available to members who have renewed their membership. You can either select the Trisura Portal Quick Package or purchase the Trisura Portal insurance option through the Flex Membership Package and take advantage of our other programs. You can also add modalities like acupuncture or ultrasound through the Trisura Portal by selecting either of these packages.
Once your membership purchase is complete, you will be redirected to the Trisura Portal to make a separate insurance purchase
Insurance coverage through the Trisura Portal offers you the exact same coverage as the policy purchased directly through the RMTAO but at a discounted rate and with access to unlimited legal advice.
Your membership and insurance, if purchased, expires September 30, 2021.
CMTA Update - Tax Exemption Campaign
In my role as Chair of the Canadian Massage Therapist Alliance (CMTA)  Working Group focusing on the tax exemption campaign, we have taken several steps in our federal tax exemption campaign.
The first of these steps was to migrate the RMTACT website information to the CMTA website to further centralize our campaign and highlight the CMTA as the leader in this campaign.
You can view the RMTACT website here
This website includes an overview of the campaign, our key messages that we will use to argue for tax exemption for massage therapists, and facts about the importance of massage therapy.
The site also includes massage therapy stories which we will be using to highlight the importance of massage therapy to health care to government officials.
You can share your story or encourage your patients to share their stories as a way to show your support of this campaign. You can also show your support by signing up for updates, which is an option at the bottom of every page of the RMTACT website.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused some delay, and the federal government had little time for other priorities, tax exemption for massage therapists has still remained a priority for the CMTA. The federal election and a potential change in government will also change our strategy slightly.
However, we are preparing plans so that after the election the CMTA will be able to arrange meetings with various MPs across Canada, the Minister of Finance and Deputy Minister and other policy makers in Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Health who can have influence over these decisions.
In 2019 we surveyed RMTs across Canada to ascertain the financial impact of RMTs collecting tax to the federal government and we will continue to use that information in our meetings going forward.
We will provide you with updates on any meetings as they happen and will also begin to create regular posts outlining important information regarding this campaign including the impact tax exemption will have on patients, the impact tax exemption will have on RMTs and further opportunities for you to help.
Welcoming Eman Abubakar
The RMTAO is pleased to announce a new staff member joining our team.  Eman Abubakar has joined the RMTAO team on a part-time basis as the Administrative Coordinator.
Eman was an Administrative Assistant at Sunybrook Hospital since 2015, and her previous experience with health care will help her to be a great asset to the RMTAO team.
She has also worked in a similar position at Mount Sinai Hospital, and has experience volunteering as an event coordinator for a non profit.
We look forward to working together with Eman as she applies her skills and experience to ensure the operations of the Association all run smoothly and are as effective as possible.
Eman can be reached at eman@rmtao.com.
Resource Spotlight - Interprofessional Collaboration Toolkit
It's more important than ever to be able to effectively collaborate with other health professionals in your patient's circle of care to ensure that your patients are getting the care they need.
The RMTAO Interprofessional Collaboration Toolkit provides tips on building successful interprofessional teams, outlines the principles that should guide interprofessional collaboration, and provides some valuable communications tools that you can use when collaborating with other health care professionals. It also provides templates of letters that you can send to other health care professionals to get the conversations going.
This is just one of the practical resources available in the RMTAO Resource Library
Access the Interprofessional Collaboration Toolkit
Program Spotlight - GoodLife
 By purchasing a GoodLife Fitness membership through the RMTAO, you will save up to 50% off of the regular annual GoodLife Fitness membership rates.
RMTAO members will have the option to purchase a membership for the full year at the cost of $549.00 plus tax or to make biweekly payments of $24.00 plus tax. These memberships are good for every GoodLife location in Canada.
If your GoodLife membership was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, contact GoodLife directly to confirm the new expiry date, as all memberships were automatically extended.
In order to access this program, you must be an RMTAO member in good standing and purchase the $25.00 one-time enrollment fee as part of your RMTAO Flex Membership. Members may purchase access to a GoodLife Fitness membership at any point throughout the year.
Once you have paid the enrollment fee, a member of the RMTAO staff will contact you by email within two (2) business days. You will be provided with a link to GoodLife's Corporate Electronic Registration Tool, where you can purchase your GoodLife Fitness memberhip. You may also purchase GoodLife Fitness memberships for up to three (3) individuals (spouse, significant other, children, etc).
If you've purchased a GoodLife membership in the past through the RMTAO, paying the full fee to the RMTAO, you will need to pay the one-time $25 enrolment fee so you can be transferred over to the new GoodLife system to renew your gym membership directly through GoodLife.
This program is only available to RMTAO members, so be sure to renew online today!
Read more…
Member Question of the Week
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Why am I not listed on RMTFind.com?
A listing on RMTFind.com is an exclusive benefit of RMTAO membership, and members have access to one free listing as part of their RMTAO membership.
The listing is not added automatically because some members do not want to be listed on RMTFind.com for a variety of reasons, e.g. they practice out of their home and don't want their home address listed.
As an RMTAO member, to add your listing you can log in to RMTAO.com and click on My RMTFind.com Listing on the left side of your screen.
You can then click edit next to the inactive blank listing that would already be there in order to add your listing.
RMTFind.com listings are only available to active members of the RMTAO, so be sure to renew online now
Do you have a question? Email info@rmtao.com
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Business Tip of the Week
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An Inclusive Team Acknowledges Differences and Similarities
It’s one thing to build a diverse team. It’s another to build an inclusive one. To effectively do the latter, you must recognize people's similarities and differences, both of which are essential to building strong, meaningful relationships at work. We each have a collection of characteristics, which includes observable attributes (like gender identity and race), less observable but well-known attributes (like functional expertise), and invisible attributes (like personality types and value systems). Don’t make the mistake of trying to just emphasize what everyone has in common. Pretending that differences don’t exist is a surefire way to make people feel excluded. Instead, create climates that encourage differences to come out. At the same time, work to uncover common ground. Similarity and shared interests are the bases for close relationships. And commit to having difficult conversations instead of avoiding them. These conversations, while difficult, will enable your team to discover and respect each other's differences and discover surprising common ground — the foundations of trust and inclusion.
Adapted from “You’ve Built a Racially Diverse Team. But Have You Built an Inclusive Culture?,” by Jill Perry-Smith
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Research Article of the Week
Massage therapy for fibromyalgia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Background: Although some studies evaluated the effectiveness of massage therapy for fibromyalgia (FM), the role of massage therapy in the management of FM remained controversial.
Objective: The purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the evidence of massage therapy for patients with FM.
Methods: Electronic databases (up to June 2013) were searched to identify relevant studies. The main outcome measures were pain, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance. Two reviewers independently abstracted data and appraised risk of bias. The risk of bias of eligible studies was assessed based on Cochrane tools. Standardised mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated by more conservative random-effects model. And heterogeneity was assessed based on the I(2) statistic.
Results: Nine randomized controlled trials involving 404 patients met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analyses showed that massage therapy with duration ≥ 5 weeks significantly improved pain (SMD, 0.62; 95% CI 0.05 to 1.20; p = 0.03), anxiety (SMD, 0.44; 95% CI 0.09 to 0.78; p = 0.01), and depression (SMD, 0.49; 95% CI 0.15 to 0.84; p = 0.005) in patients with FM, but not on sleep disturbance (SMD, 0.19; 95% CI -0.38 to 0.75; p = 0.52).
Conclusion: Massage therapy with duration ≥ 5 weeks had beneficial immediate effects on improving pain, anxiety, and depression in patients with FM. Massage therapy should be one of the viable complementary and alternative treatments for FM. However, given fewer eligible studies in subgroup meta-analyses and no evidence on follow-up effects, large-scale randomized controlled trials with long follow-up are warrant to confirm the current findings.
Li, Y. H., Wang, F. Y., Feng, C. Q., Yang, X. F., & Sun, Y. H. (2014). Massage therapy for fibromyalgia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. PloS one, 9(2), e89304.
Read the full article...
The Learning Curve - The RMTAO Education Series
Upcoming Community Networks and Related Activities
The RMTAO has created a feature on RMTAO.com for Community Networks. Members and non-members can access information about the latest upcoming network activities on our list of upcoming events! Don't see a Community Based Network near you? You can contact Angela Paton at angela@rmtao.com to learn more about starting one.
Durham Region CBN Meeting
Date: September 13, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Topic: Benefits of RMTAO membership
RSVP: This is a virtual meeting, contact Durham Region CBN Coordinator Catherine Roe at cate.roe1@gmail.com for meeting details.
Toronto West CBN Meeting
Date: September 20, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Topic: Check in. New standards of practice, STRiVe Expectations, RMTAO membership benefits
RSVP: Contact Susan Bessonette at susan.bessonette@rogers.com, or Andrew Clapperton at a.clapperton@sympatico.ca to RSVP and for virtual meeting information
Sault Ste. Marie CBN Meeting
Date: September 20, 2021
Time: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Location: 155 Hewgill St., Sault Ste Marie (Gateway Community Church)
Topic: General Discussion
RSVP: To RSVP, contact Catherine Courtney at cathycourtney@hotmail.com
London CBN Meeting
Date: October 3, 2021
Time: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Topic: RMT Sunday morning chat hosted by the London Area CBN/Community Based Network
Monthly Zoom meeting chat for RMTs, grads and students, you don't have to be a RMTAO member. Feel free to add topics or ask questions in the comments ahead of time. You don't have to be from the London area. You are welcome to lurk, no-one is put on the spot, video optional.
We'll catch up on RMTAO and CMTO news, upcoming & past courses, brains-trust for anyone who needs support/ideas/guidance, plus anything anyone wants to raise.
RSVP: To RSVP or for virtual meeting details, contact Dani Faucher at danifaucher.rmt@gmail.com
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