The holistic program, says Jutta Krause Keller, restorative care aide, has since become an integral part of the home’s restorative care programming.

“The main thing is the calming effect,” says Krause Keller. “It relaxes the residents and there is a self-healing aspect.”

A fifteen minute session of “therapeutic touch” – a contemporary form of ancient energy flow healing practices – can return energy balance to a resident, decreasing agitation and reducing pain.

At Muskoka Landing, three volunteer therapeutic touch practitioners regularly treat seven residents. The sessions, which are rarely longer than thirty minutes, involve both hands on and hand off energy exchange. The practitioner manipulates the body’s energy forces in order to restore balance and facilitate healing.

It is particularly helpful for residents suffering intense pain, adds Krause Keller.

Therapeutic touch was developed in the early 70’s by Dora Kunz and Dolores Krieger, Ph.D., R.N. Its underlying philosophy is akin to many Eastern healing arts, which see “life energy”, and its unobstructed flow, as central to a person’s health. Obstructed energy flow is present in disease and injury. Therapeutic touch, with the aid of the therapists hands, attempts to free the blocked energy, to enable its proper flow through the body.

Due to its gentle approach, therapeutic touch is also a perfect complimentary form of therapy for residents receiving other medical treatments, recovering from injury or receiving physiotherapy.

“It’s good in combination,” says Krause Keller. “It provides another channel of healing.”