|
What's Happening at the RMTAO
Early-Bird Insurance Rates End Next Week
You have one more week to access the early-bird rates on your professional liability insurance when purchased through the Trisura Portal. Log in and renew online today!
RMTAO membership, and professional liability insurance if purchased, expires on September 30, 2020.
If you renew your PLI through the Trisura Portal by September 15, you can access PLI for $85, which is a $10 discount.
Through the Trisura Portal, you also have access to free unlimited legal consultation.
As a member you can help us chart a new course for the massage therapy profession with a focus on research, collaboration and engagement.
You can ensure your voice is heard as we continue to advocate for the profession. We wouldn’t be able to do all that we do without your support!
Welcoming Hariti Malhotra
The RMTAO is pleased to welcome our newest staff member, Hariti  Malhotra!
Hariti is our Education and Events Coordinator and will take the lead in our education program and plan all of our association events. She looks forward to planning the wide variety of the association events including webinars, education conferences, board events, annual general meetings and award ceremonies.
Her background in hospitality and event management has given her the opportunity to work with companies across different industry sectors including most recently in the non-profit sector. Fun fact about Hariti: She loves travelling and has lived in 6 countries so far!
If you'd like to reach Hariti with any suggestions or comments about RMTAO education or events, or just to chat, you can contact her at hariti@rmtao.com
RMTAO Fee Guideline
The RMTAO fee guideline provides some guidance to help our members set fees as well as deal with any fee-related issues.
The fee guideline covers rules surrounding receipts and gift certificates and a review of how tipping and how cancelled or missed appointments should be handled.
In addition to suggestions for fees for various treatment lengths, we also suggest potential fees for ancillary services including preparing reports, expert testimony, labour support and more.
Download the fee guideline
Program Spotlight: Perkopolis
RMTAO members have access to various discounts through our program partner Perkopolis.
Many of these discounts can be applied to online shopping for clothes, electornics, housewear, beauty products and much more! You can also access discounts on many popular attractions that have recently reopened.
To sign up, email info@rmtao.com to request a Perkopolis registration code and then sign up online at www.perkopolis.com
Read more about Perkopolis
CMTO COVID-19 Updates
The CMTO has recently updated their COVID-19 page with new answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
This includes updates on treating patients which chronic headaches and other chronic conditions, further details on cleaning and disinfecting, and when you can return to treating a patient who has tested positive for COVID-19.
The CMTO updates their FAQs regularly, so be sure to check back often for any new updates.
Review the CMTO COVID-19 FAQs
Member Question of the Week
|
I'm having trouble accessing the Trisura Portal but want to take advantage of the early-bird insurance discount. How can I log in?
In order to log in to the Trisura Portal, you need to first renew your RMTAO membership on the RMTAO website. You should select the Trisura Portal Quick Package, or select the Trisura Portal option from the Flex Membership package.
You will pay for your membership first on the RMTAO site, and then you will get a link to the Trisura Portal.
If you have never used the Trisura Portal before, when following that link you will be directed to fill out your information to create an account.
If you have used the Trisura Portal before, when clicking that link you will be directed to log in to your account on the Trisura Portal. Your username and password for the Trisura Portal is not necessarily the same as your username or password for the RMTAO account, and the email you use for the Trisura Portal is not necessarily the same as the email you have on file. Your log in information will be whatever you provided when first signing up for the Trisura Portal.
If you've forgotten your password, you can indicate that on the Trisura site and you will be sent a reminder.
If you have technical difficulties with the Trisura Portal, you can contact their help desk at 1-844-264-3317 or info.portal@trisura.com
Do you have a question? Email info@rmtao.com
|
Business Tip of the Week
|
Don’t Let Uncertainty Paralyze Your Decision-Making
When you’re living in a period of heightened uncertainty, your normal decision-making processes can break down. Some people become paralyzed and afraid to act, while others make quick decisions based on emotions or bias rather than facts. You can make careful, reasoned decisions by taking a strategic pause to stop and assess what information you have — and what you’re missing. First, identify what kind of data you’re working with and biases that might accompany it. For example, some data captures our attention because it's surprising, but we might overweigh it because it’s new or noteworthy. Next, identify which information matters most to your decision-making. There are an endless number of “known unknowns” out there, and exploring them all won’t help you. Instead ask yourself: What do I really need to know to move forward? Finally, formulate questions that will help you get the answers you need. Organize your questions into four categories — behavior, opinion, feeling, and knowledge — so that you bring both distance and a variety of perspectives to how you interpret the data. Following these practices will help you better address your emotional responses, name and confront them, and make more rational decisions in the face of uncertainty.
Adapted from “How to Make Rational Decisions in the Face of Uncertainty,” by Cheryl Strauss Einhorn
|
Research Article of the Week
Real-World Massage Therapy Produces Meaningful Effectiveness Signal for Primary Care Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: Results of a Repeated Measures Cohort Study
Objective: While efficacy of massage and other nonpharmacological treatments for chronic low back pain is established, stakeholders have called for pragmatic studies of effectiveness in "real-world" primary health care. The Kentucky Pain Research and Outcomes Study evaluated massage impact on pain, disability, and health-related quality of life for primary care patients with chronic low back pain. We report effectiveness and feasibility results, and make comparisons with established minimal clinically important differences.
Methods: Primary care providers referred eligible patients for 10 massage sessions with community practicing licensed massage therapists. Oswestry Disability Index and SF-36v2 measures obtained at baseline and postintervention at 12 and 24 weeks were analyzed with mixed linear models and Tukey's tests. Additional analyses examined clinically significant improvement and predictive patient characteristics.
Results: Of 104 enrolled patients, 85 and 76 completed 12 and 24 weeks of data collection, respectively. Group means improved at 12 weeks for all outcomes and at 24 weeks for SF-36v2's Physical Component Summary and Bodily Pain Domain. Of those with clinically improved disability at 12 weeks, 75% were still clinically improved at 24 weeks ( P < 0.01). For SF-36v2 Physical and Mental Component Summaries, 55.4% and 43.4%, respectively, showed clinically meaningful improvement at 12 weeks, 46.1% and 30.3% at 24 weeks. For Bodily Pain Domain, 49.4% were clinically improved at 12 weeks, 40% at 24 weeks. Adults older than age 49 years had better pain and disability outcomes than younger adults.
Conclusion: Results provide a meaningful signal of massage effect for primary care patients with chronic low back pain and call for further research in practice settings using pragmatic designs with control groups.
Elder WG, Munk N, Love MM, Bruckner GG, Stewart KE, Pearce K. (2017) Real-World Massage Therapy Produces Meaningful Effectiveness Signal for Primary Care Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: Results of a Repeated Measures Cohort Study. Pain Med.;18(7):1394-1405.
Read the full article...
The Learning Curve - The RMTAO Education Series
|
The Learning Curve - The RMTAO Education Series
The Learning Curve provides education to massage therapists in a variety of hands-on workshops and lecture-based seminars across Ontario focused on three main areas-Competency, Business, and Modality. The Continuing Education Program is designed to help massage therapists increase their knowledge base to continuously improve for both their own personal success and that of the client.
Click here for more information about the courses that are offered by the RMTAO.
|
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 Christian Hall at christian@rmtao.com to learn more about starting one!
North Bay Community-Based Network
Date: October 1, 2020
Time: 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Location: Virtual. This meeting is exclusively for RMTs and massage therapy students in North Bay and the surrounding area. Contact Kelsey Quinn for details on how to access the meeting.
Topic: This will be a round 2 of re-opening and is open to RMTs and RMT students in North Bay and Parry Sound district only to keep the agenda tight and focus on northern practice. This meeting will be via Zoom.
Contact: Kelsey Quinn , info@breatheinwellness.ca
Read more about the meeting
Niagara Community-Based Network
Date: October 1, 2020
Time: 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Location: Virtual. This meeting is exclusively for RMTs and massage therapy students in Niagara and the surrounding area. Contact Don Dillon for details on how to access the meeting.
Contact: Don Dillon , relief@dondillon.ca
Read more about the meeting |
The goal of a new campaign from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health is to normalize talking about suicide, both for the hospital as a research institution, but also among family and friends, community members, religious intitutous and the workplace so that those who are struggling can access treatment sooner. Read more...
|
