Reiki's Effect on Pain and Anxiety

Awesome news!! I just had to publish it here on my little blog:

The Reiki Share Project's Jane Van De Velde, DNP, RN, has been participating in a Reiki pilot project for Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare in Elmhurst, IL. Since February 2012, Jane has been visiting EMHC’s Cancer Center twice a month to offer short Reiki sessions which are approximately 10-15 minutes in length. 

Recipients have been patients receiving chemotherapy or radiation as well as family members and staff. To date, she has conducted a total of 44 sessions. In an effort to determine Reiki’s impact on pain and anxiety, Jane has been collecting basic outcome data. She asks clients to rate their pain and anxiety on a 0-10 point scale before and after their Reiki sessions. So far, the initial results of this data collection are very promising.
 
Pain
Seventeen clients reported pain before their Reiki sessions. After their sessions, 12 (70%) reported a decrease in their pain level; 3 (18%) reported no change in their pain level; and 2 (12%) did not rate their post-session pain level.

Anxiety
Twenty-nine clients reported anxiety before their Reiki sessions. After their sessions, 24 (83%) reported a decrease in their anxiety level; 0 (0%) reported no change in their anxiety level; and 5 (17%) did not rate their post-session anxiety level.

These outcome measurements show that many of these clients who received short Reiki sessions responded very positively to Reiki as evidenced by reported decreases in pain and anxiety.

Jane also documents verbal comments made by clients after their Reiki sessions. They often describe feelings of relaxation, peace, tranquility, and warmth. One woman stated, “I felt like I was sitting in sunshine.” Other statements from clients include, “I feel good” and “I feel better”.

Data such as these are easy to collect and lend support to the development of complementary programs in healthcare settings. The EMHC Cancer Center plans to expand the Reiki program in the near future.

For more information about this program, contact Jane@thereikishareproject.org.
Copyright July