massage and bodywork professionals

a community of practitioners

Good Morning all.
I have recently been contacted by a parent looking to receive Massage services for her 7 year old boy.
To date (other than Infant massage classes) I have not had the opportunity to work on a child this young.
What advice would you provide for ensuring I have a parental consent form, and any suggestions in regards to the parent chaperoning the session etc?

Many thanks in advance.

Views: 3604

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Good Morning Sally !
My experience was for the most part just like any other session, other than having a parent or legal guardian present. I had my young client sit with the parent and both filled out my client health history form as well as signed an authorization for me to do Massage and Bodywork. I had no problems and while at the same time as well I filled out my SOAP notes, and they are both regular clients during regular swimming season. Just for the info this is young female. (13) Mom and Dad call on me when needed. Hope this helps, just my experience Peace Travis
Hey Sally,

Like Travis said... pretty much the same as any other session. I always have anyone under 18 have the parent/legal guardian fill out the med history as well as sign off on the treatments. For someone as young as 7, I would require the parent to be present during the session. It will put the child at ease and the adult will be able to see the treatment and ask any questions that may arise at that time. Since the treatment is "smaller scale" you may find that you don't require as much time to complete the treatment. You may spend more time at the intake and answering questions however!
We have massaged several young children at Massage Envy. Same as Travis, regular session. Parental permission slip signed and parent present during all sessions unless 16 or older. Fill out SOAP notes as always.
From an informed consent standpoint, someone who is under 18 is not considered competent to provide a valid consent. Since informed consent may be necessary throughout the treatment and not only at the beginning, it may be safer to have the parent/guardian present throughout the session.
If you use the ABMP client information form it has at the bottom the Consent by guardian to treatment of a minor release. It is a good intake form. I use this and other forms available on the website.
I had a 9 year boy old come to see me recently and this was the first time I had worked on someone this young. Previously the youngest I had delt with was a very mature acting 14 year old who seemed no different to me than any other client, of course he had parental consent and his mom filled out the form with him but the parent did not attend the session in the room. When the 9 year old came in, he was a rather shy, indecisive boy, which makes a session awkward because I don't know if he will answer my questions honestly. I had already decided before he came to invite the mother into the massage room for the session, that seemed like a no brainer, but under the circumstances of that particular situation I don't think I would have been comfortable leaving that as an option. Having her present put the child at ease, so when he hesitated answering me when I asked about his comfort his mom would chime in and get him to answer more readily. I would have to say that for me in the future I would absolutely require a parent present in the room for any child under 12 and would make individual recommendations for older children depending on their experience with massage, and their comfort level and maturity. Of course, any child under 18 is always welcome to have a chaperone and it should be recommended but at some older ages I would allow it to be optional if they have had a previous experience with you and you have built a trust.
Thank you everyone, you have provided some great advice, and definitely on the same track as I was when it came to considering the consent, and parental presence.
Hi Sally,
I have worked on a 5 year old autistic girl, as everyone says just do it like any other session, I do have a Minor Intake form, that I can provide you with if you would like, is a little bit different, as I believe we need to know more about kids personality in order to make them more comfortable with us, since we are strangers of course, let me know if you would like it
. Take care :)

Sally Chamness said:
Thank you everyone, you have provided some great advice, and definitely on the same track as I was when it came to considering the consent, and parental presence.
Maria,
Thank you so much, I would be very interested in having a look at your Minor Intake form, if you dont mind that is.
I really appreciate your input.
Sally

Maria Daniela Mohr said:
Hi Sally,
I have worked on a 5 year old autistic girl, as everyone says just do it like any other session, I do have a Minor Intake form, that I can provide you with if you would like, is a little bit different, as I believe we need to know more about kids personality in order to make them more comfortable with us, since we are strangers of course, let me know if you would like it
. Take care :)

Sally Chamness said:
Thank you everyone, you have provided some great advice, and definitely on the same track as I was when it came to considering the consent, and parental presence.
http://www.sohnen-moe.com/formfiles/minor_consent.pdf This site has a nice one to use. She has a lot of good free forms to use for your practice including a minor informed consent. I use some of these in my practice.
Thank you Deidre for the link. I printed the form.

Deidre M. Medina said:
http://www.sohnen-moe.com/formfiles/minor_consent.pdf This site has a nice one to use. She has a lot of good free forms to use for your practice including a minor informed consent. I use some of these in my practice.
I have found young children to usually only need about half the time. It seems a seven year old isn't going to have a lot of life stress built up. I want to do some research on Thai massage and kids. I mean I know it be fine but better safe than sorry. Kids might be more open to it if they dont have to get undressed...

Reply to Discussion

RSS

© 2024   Created by ABMP.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service