President’s Report, June 4, 2020
This is an incredible year. The COVID-19 pandemic, the worst economic disaster since the 1920s, and now the most unsettled social atmosphere since the late 1960s are combining to create the greatest general stress level in our lifetimes. The massage world is being hit about as hard as any other group just when we could be of great help to our fellowman (if we could do massages from six feet away).
Every organization in the Coalition of National Massage Therapy Organizations is taking action to support our community in some way. The main thing is guidelines for how to go back to work and teach. Every organization has developed a set of resources for their constituents on how to deal with the pandemic. AFMTE has its own resource page. Check it out.
While all this is going on, there is important work being done on our behalf in the integrative health community. AFMTE is a member of the Academic Collaborative for Integrative Health (ACIH) and the Integrative Health Policy Consortium (IHPC). IHPC published a pamphlet titled “Integrative Health and Medicine: Today’s Answer to Affordable Healthcare,” which is available here. IHPC also coordinated a broad effort to encourage integrative approaches to pain and opioid addiction, as well as inclusion of integrative health options in Medicare and Medicaid.
ACIH represents the massage profession, as well as other integrative health professions in the National Academy of Medicine’s Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education. This international group has representatives from 60 plus countries. ACIH representatives have been well received in this organization, putting integrative health (including massage) at the table for international conversations on health and health education.
I acknowledge that these developments are dwarfed by the big events of the day, but it is important to realize that good work is still being done on many fronts that we may not hear about.
Stay safe. Stay alert. Keep on keeping on.
The AFMTE is a member-based organization, and your support really matters! Click here to learn more about AFMTE memberships
