Massage Therapy Journal Winter 2024

Winter 2024 • 13

by promoting research that advances medical treatments and technologies. FOVA also plays a key role in influencing policy decisions and securing funding to improve VA research infrastructure, with a focus on innovations in prosthetics, mental health, and complementary therapies. Growing Evidence of Massage Therapy’s Benefits for Veterans Recent research continues to affirm the positive effects of massage therapy for U.S. veterans, showing its potential to improve overall health and well-being. An evidence map of massage therapy offers a structured overview of existing studies, categorizing them by the strength and certainty of their findings. This tool helps researchers, clinicians and policymakers quickly assess where strong evidence exists and where further investigation is needed. Since 2018, the VA Health Services Research & Development Department has updated its evidence map, which tracks the benefits of massage therapy for veterans. Recent findings highlight six reviews with moderate certainty of evidence showing that massage therapy can improve conditions such as chronic back

pain, fibromyalgia and myofascial pain. This represents significant progress compared to earlier maps, which included only low certainty conclusions. The growing body of evidence strengthens the case for massage therapy as an effective treatment for specific conditions commonly faced by veterans. The Need for More Research on Massage Therapy for Veterans Despite the increased use of massage therapy within the VA healthcare system since 2016, further research is needed to advance its role in integrative healthcare for veterans. High quality randomized controlled trials are crucial to building a more robust evidence base for the effectiveness of massage therapy in managing pain and other health conditions. AMTA continues to support new research through the Massage Therapy Foundation, including a study with the Defense and Veterans Center for Integrative Pain Management. This study focuses on an evidence-based approach to using massage therapy to reduce the burden of chronic pain within the Department of Defense and the VA .

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