In April 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic gained momentum in the U.S., Massage Mastery Online released Preventing Disease Transmission in a Massage Practice. More than 17,000 massage professionals, clinic managers, teachers, and students registered for the free resource during 2020. We are grateful to many of them for sharing with us that the text helped them reopen their clinics, spas, schools, and student clinics with “supercharged” safety practices as states lifted restrictions.

In response to working through the interactive textbook, many massage therapists shared with us that their knowledge of diseases, sanitation, and hygienic practices was not as comprehensive as it should be to fully protect themselves and their clients from the spread of infectious diseases. As a profession, COVID required us to evaluate our knowledge gaps, drop lazy practices, and pay keen attention to hygienic protocols and methods.

While COVID remains active in our communities, we must continue to remain vigilant. All of us must cultivate in-depth knowledge and use effective policies and proactive hygiene protocols to ensure client safety and our own safety when we practice massage therapy.

Williams, A., Brown, E. Preventing Disease Transmission in a Massage Practice. Sweet Orange Education LLC, 2020. ISBN 978-1-7923-7937-6

Define disease and recognize broad categories of diseases. Differentiate between infectious and noninfectious diseases.

Recognize different types of infectious agents, especially those that cause problems in massage clinics.

Learn about the chain of infection and different modes of transmission. By understanding these concepts, you’ll understand how preventative measures work.

Update your knowledge of Standard Precautions and practice Standard Precautions consistently. Use personal protective equipment, respiratory and cough etiquette, and correct hand hygiene.

Maintain a clean massage workplace by using the correct cleaning supplies and following effective protocols for cleaning session rooms, handling linens, handling products, and cleaning common areas.

Practice exceptional professional hygiene by understanding the reasons behind physical hygiene and professional dress. Manage challenging situations like therapist allergies successfully.

Prevent the spread of common infectious diseases at your massage business, including the common cold, fungal infections, hepatitis, HIV, lice, and mites.  

Review the historical chapter on COVID infections to remember how the massage profession responded to the pandemic with “supercharged” hygiene and safety protocols.

The thoughtful instructional design of this textbook organizes contents into carefully sequenced learning chunks. You can finish topics in short study sessions (an average of 20 minutes). The sensation of making regular progress improves learning motivation.

So long as you use Chrome as your browser, therapists with English as a second language can instantly translate the text into their native language, so they never miss a concept.

Concepts come alive with striking imagery and appealing graphic design. Printed textbooks are limited by page number and keep visuals to a minimum. In the digital world, more is more when it comes to visual aids. This textbook boasts 187 images.

Standard textbook features like introductions, learning objectives, summaries, references, and resources get a digital upgrade with subtle animations and click-to-view options that invite learners to engage with content they might otherwise skip over.

Clever web navigation puts the entire textbook a click away and provides an ongoing outline to help therapists mentally frame the content they are learning.

Learning games strengthen concept comprehension, memory recall, and critical-thinking skills. Games give instant feedback, so therapists never reinforce incorrect information. Games can be reset for repeated content drill and practice. This textbook includes 18 learning games in the “Apply It!” topic of each lesson.  

Download a cleaning product supply list and recommendations, a sample welcome back to massage letter, policy and procedure updates related to COVID, and workplace posters for hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, and cough etiquette.

Therapists can access their textbooks on a phone, laptop, desktop, or tablet for on-the-go learning.

Subscription Period: Ongoing access.

After Registration: Once you register for this textbook, you’ll log into massagemastery.online with your email and password. The textbook will be waiting for you on your dashboard. Click the access button and follow the directions.

Preventing Disease Transmission in a Massage Practice for CE Hours: To complete this course, you'll work through the contents of the Preventing Disease Transmission in a Massage Practice digital textbook and then purchase the final exam to earn 8 NCBTMB-approved CE hours. The course is currently on sale for $49 (regularly $99). 

TEXTBOOK INTRODUCTION

LESSON 1: AN OVERVIEW OF DISEASE

• Terminology Preview
• Defining Disease
• Noninfectious Diseases
• Infectious Diseases
• Apply It!
• Quiz

LESSON 2: TYPES OF INFECTIOUS AGENTS

• Terminology Preview
• Bacteria
• Viruses
• Fungi
• Parasites
• Apply It!
• Quiz

LESSON 3: DISEASE TRANSMISSION

• Terminology Preview
• Chain of Infection
• Modes of Transmission
• Apply It!
• Quiz

LESSON 4: STANDARD PRECAUTIONS

• Terminology Preview
• Hand Hygiene
• Use of Personal Protective Equipment
• Respiratory Hygiene and Cough Etiquette
• Proper Clean Up of Blood and Body Fluid
• Apply It!
• Quiz

LESSON 5: MAINTAINING A CLEAN MASSAGE WORKPLACE

• Terminology Preview
• Cleaning Supplies
• Cleaning Your Session Room
• Handling Linens Properly
• Handling Products Properly
• Cleaning Common Areas at Your Workplace
• Apply It!
• Quiz

LESSON 6: PROFESSIONAL HYGIENE

• Terminology Preview
• Physical Hygiene
• Professional Dress
• Challenging Therapist Situations
• Apply It!
• Quiz

LESSON 7: INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND YOUR MASSAGE PRACTICE

• Terminology Preview
• The Common Cold
• Fungal Infections
• Hepatitis Infections
• HIV/AIDS
• Lice and Mites
• Apply It!
• Quiz

LESSON 8: HUMAN CORONAVIRUSES

• Terminology Preview
• An Overview of Human Coronaviruses
• COVID-19 – What We Know
• Considerations for Reopening
• Supercharge Your Facility
• Supercharge Your Policies & Procedures
• Supercharge Your Cleaning
• Supercharge Your Safety
• Video Safety Training & Resources
• Apply It!
• Quiz

FINAL TEXTBOOK EXAMINATION