August Rubdown

Topics:

• Healwell News
• State and National News
• Association News
• Upcoming Live and Online events

Healwell's Glossary of the Massage Therapy Profession

NPR: Non-Compete Ban Thrown Out
The Massage Therapy Foundation Ergonomics Project Interest Survey
MTF Public-Based Research Network
MTF Executive Director Departure (After 26 Years!)
MTF Practitioner and Student Case Report Contest

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:42

Welcome to the Rubdown, a news update about massage therapy. I'm your host, kori Rivera, licensed massage therapist and correspondent. Every month, the Rub will bring you news from the world of massage therapy. Today's Rubdown will include news from August 2024. It is currently conference season, so this news update will be a quick one. Don't forget, the HealWell blog has a helpful glossary of terms. You can find the link to this guide in the show notes. If we've missed any, please let us know by emailing us at podcast at healwellorg.

Speaker 1: 1:21

First up HealWell News. The HealWell Service Department provided 935 sessions in August to the DC, maryland, virginia area, bringing our total sessions for the year to 7,224. Healwell Homecoming is September 20th through 21st. Friday is Education Day, where you can choose classes on pregnancy or lymphatics in the morning and ethics of solidarity or fascial research in the afternoon. On Sunday we'll be having a group discussion called the Grand Noodle on topics of research, service and education, a keynote by Executive Director Cal Cates and a dance party featuring a raffle, wine pool and groovy tunes. We hope to see you there Next.

Speaker 1: 2:05

State and national news A court in Texas has thrown out the Federal Trade Commission's ban on non-competes. Non-compete agreements prevent employees from working for competing companies. Non-competes were originally for highly paid employees in order to protect trade secrets, but in recent years they have expanded into all industries and pay grades, including retail and food service. The ban was originally set to take effect on September 4th, but has been halted. Judge Ada Brown, who made the decision, stated that the Federal Trade Commission does not have the power to create such a ban. Instead, that power lies with Congress. The Federal Trade Commission has the option to appeal the decision, but has not stated they will do ban. Instead, that power lies with Congress. The Federal Trade Commission has the option to appeal the decision, but has not stated they will do so. However, some states already have restrictions on non-competes. California, north Dakota and Oklahoma have all banned non-competes previously, and Minnesota passed a ban last year. Also, in 33 states, non-competes are restricted for lower-income workers or industries such as health care. If you are a massage therapist working under a non-compete, you should check your state's laws to see what kind of restrictions might be. In effect, the Harris-Waltz campaign has announced a plan to support small businesses if they win the presidential election in November. The plan includes increasing the amount of deductions allowed in the first year of small businesses from $5,000 to $50,000 and making low or no interest loans available. It also proposes creating ways to expand the Affordable Care Act for small businesses and working to streamline government processes to make things like filing taxes simpler.

Speaker 1: 3:34

Our next segment is news from the Massage Therapy National Associations. The Massage Therapy Foundation's Executive Director, virginia Olson, known as Ginny, is departing after 26 years of service. Ginny Olson was involved in the creation of the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, or IJTMB, which is the Foundation's open-access academic journal. She also helped create the International Massage Therapy Research Conference and MassageNet, the public-based research network that connects practicing massage therapists with researchers. The Massage Therapy Foundation has not yet announced a new executive director. The Massage Therapy Foundation is also recruiting for the second phase of the Massage Therapy Ergonomic Study. The second phase involves having practicing massage therapists wearing sensors during sessions. If you are interested in participating, please complete the Massage Therapy Foundation Ergonomic Project Interest Survey link in the show notes. To be kept up to date about the ergonomic study, you can sign up to the Massage Therapy Foundation newsletter or join the Massage Therapy Public Based Research Network at massagenetorg. The Massage Therapy Foundation's Practitioner and Student Case Report Contests are now open. The submission deadline is June 1st 2025. Link in the show notes.

Speaker 1: 4:47

And last, here are the live events coming up. If you want to catch a HealWell live class, we have our last oncology class for the year, october 23rd through 25th in Keene, new Hampshire. Healwell's hospital-based massage therapy stewardship is November 5th through 8th in Washingtonene, new Hampshire. Healwell's hospital-based massage therapy stewardship is November 5th through 8th in Washington DC. Scar classes with Kathy Ryan are September 21st through 22nd in Fairfax, virginia, and October 26th through 27th in Santa Monica, california. As mentioned before, healwell Homecoming is September 20th through 21st. Other live conferences include the FSMTP Annual Meeting, october 3rd through 5th in Washington DC and the Black Massage Therapist Conference October 8th and 9th in Charlotte, north Carolina.

Speaker 1: 5:29

If you're an early planner, the Massage Therapy Foundation's International Massage Therapy Research Conference, or IMTREC, will be April 27th through 29th in Alexandria, virginia. While the conference usually offers continuing education credits, it is different from the traditional massage therapy conference. Research conferences are the place researchers can present their work to clinicians and other researchers in their field. Instead of hands-on classes or workshops, the event is mostly lecture, followed by question and answer sessions. Don't forget, you can now text the show by clicking the link in the show notes. Each news update. I'll be asking a question and reading responses the following month. This month's question is are you going to any conferences this fall? Please write in and tell us about your experience. If you have any national or state-level news about massage therapy that you would like to share, please send an email with your news and a link to your source to podcast at heolorg. You can also subscribe to our Patreon and join us in the Heol online community. This has been your August News Rubdown. Thank you for listening.