Abstract
Aim: To observe the trend in research on healing touch in Japan, and shed light on the current situation and issues.
Methods: A literature study was conducted using the Japanese database Ichushi-Web. In searching for literature, the keyword “healing touch” was used with the condition “exclude meeting minutes.” Also, articles other than original papers, such as commentaries and overviews, were excluded.
Results: Healing Touch studies have been published since 2013, with 7 articles published by July 2020, 7 intervention studies (2 randomized controlled trials, 1 quasi-randomized controlled trial, 2 experimental studies, 1 case study, and 1 fact-finding survey). Of these, six studied healthy adults, and one studied patients. Issues identified in the literature were as follows: limited numbers of subjects; short intervention periods; and limited numbers of interventions.
Conclusion: In Japan, the first official program on healing touch was launched in 2010, which is provided in Japanese. Since then, an increasing number of people are attending the program, and studies on healing touch have been conducted and published. Findings from this study suggested that it is henceforth necessary to identify an appropriate sample size, and conduct research through continuous interventions.
