Center for Reiki Research including Reiki In Hospitals

The following are some excerpts from the Center for Reiki Research including Reiki in Hospitals website. I highly recommend that if you become a free member of this site if you are interested in Reiki from a scientific or medical viewpoint. www.centerforreikiresearch.org/

From home page:

The purpose of this web site is to promote the scientific awareness of Reiki by providing a current list of evidence based research published in peer reviewed journals along with summaries of each of these studies. We also offer guidance and direction for those wanting to produce future studies. Also included on this web site is a list of hospitals, medical clinics, and hospice programs where Reiki sessions are offered.

From research summary page:

"Below is a list of Reiki research studies published in peer-reviewed journals. The first group are those studies that were rated in the “top range” by the Touchstone Process as Very Good or Excellent in terms of scientific rigor. They demonstrated well-designed methodology, and utilized standardized treatment protocols and outcome
parameters that had been previously validated. In addition, they were well written. To read our conclusion about the studies summarized, please click on the study below".

The site then lists the major studies on Reiki. If you click on a study you receive a helpful, easy to read summary including the paper reference (though a link to actual paper is not provided), the studies Objective/Goal/Hypothesis, Methodology, Results, Strengths, Weaknesses and Additional Comments.

From the touchstone process page:

The Touchstone process was conceived by William Rand, Founder and President of The International Center for Reiki Training, with the purpose of making the results of evidence based Reiki research easily accessible to the lay public and the academic and medical communities, thus providing a critical framework against which to evaluate Reiki’s effectiveness.

In evaluating the research reviewed under the Touchstone process the Touchstone research team noticed that a number of Reiki studies were poorly designed, thus rendering results that are of limited value. One of the outcomes of the Touchstone process has been the generation of professional guidelines that the team considers critical for rigorous Reiki study design.1 This article is an outgrowth of these guidelines. It is our hope that investigators will use the information in this article for the development of future Reiki research studies. In addition, the Touchstone research team also offers a consultation service for those wanting expert advice and guidance in designing their Reiki research study.

From the Hospitals and Clinics that Offer Reiki Treatments Page

One of the best features of this site is this page. It not only lists Hospitals and Clinics that do Reiki and is sortable by name or by state or country, but if you click on the hospital, you get detail on their program, including Name/Address of hospital, Program type, Source Person, Date Program Started, whether treatments are given by staff or outside practitioners, paid or unpaid, program fees, program description and website.

The list of 63 hospitals includes Cancer hospitals, such as Dana Farber Institute, hospices, Children's Hospitals, like the Children's Hospital Boston, University Hospitals and more. Since this is a voluntary list, there are undoubtedly other hospitals doing Reiki that have not put information on this site. If you know of hospitals that have Reiki programs that are not on the list, please let them know about the website, and encourage them to participate.

Hospitals in California

Sharp Memorial Hospital - San Diego (I know the people who run this program)

St Joseph Medical Center - Stockton

Hearst Cancer Resource Center - San Luis Obispo

Citrus Valley Medical Center - Covina (I know people working in this program)

I also heard there is a hospital in Santa Barbara that offers Reiki, but it does not appear on this list.

Number of Hospitals/Clinics per state/country listed (if you want to know more, go to their site)

Arizona - 5

California - 4 (very low considering the size of state)

Connecticut - 5

Illinois - 1

Massachusetts - 6

Maryland - 2

Michigan - 3

Minnesota - 1

North Carolina - 2

New Hampshire - 3

New Jersey - 4

New York - 12 (highest)

Ohio - 2

PA - 1

Virginia - 1

Vermont - 3

Washington - 2

Canada - 1

From the Articles Page

Guidelines for Conducting Quality Reiki Research

Writing Case Reports for Reiki pdf

Documenting Reiki Sessions pdf

Insurance Reimbursement for Reiki Sessions pdf

Science and the Human Energy Field pdf

National Institutes of Health - Reiki Studies

Reiki in Hospitals

How We Got Reiki Into the Hospital

Developing a Reiki Program at Maine Medical Center

A Healing Space for Reiki in a Hospital

Starting a Hospital Based Volunteer Reiki Program

The Story of Dr. Chujiro Hayashi pdf

How Hawayo Takata Practiced and Taught Reiki pdf

ReikiMedResearch.org

This web site is dedicated to collecting, documenting and publicizing the information about medical effects of Reiki therapy. It is intended to promote Reiki use in hospitals and connect Reiki practitioners of different lineages, their patients, and physicians through summarizing and providing medical information about Reiki therapy.
The site contains a database of information about effectiveness of Reiki in treating various health conditions. This will allow future Reiki patients to choose this therapy more consciously. We also intend to provide a link between Reiki practitioners and interested physicians, to support the process of accepting Reiki therapy by medical community and incorporating it into medical settings. Any Reiki practitioner, willing to provide Reiki in a hospital setting, can be listed below for free. Also, anyone can request immediate short-term help by e-mailing your request to the list of "Reiki Help" practitioners. Parents can request free long-term distant Reiki healing for their children through the "Reiki Hugs" program.

Last updated: March 9, 2010

Contents:
Overview of published medical research on Reiki therapy
ReikiMedResearch discussion group
Reiki patients survey
Reiki practitioners survey
List of practitioners, willing to provide Reiki treatments in a medical setting
DATABASE of applicability of Reiki therapy to various diseases
Announcements:
"REIKI HUGS" ( Long-term distant healing program for children)
"REIKI HELP" (Request Reiki for any person in need)
Seminars
A call for Reiki case reports
Helpful links

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The following is a brief summary Jessica Produced of the research listed on the ReikiMedResearch.org site

Medical Research on Reiki – handout by Jessica Miller version 10/06

While Reiki has existed since the 1920’s, it the initially small number of practitioners that existed before the 1990’s ensured that it was not extensively studied, therefore the medical research on Reiki are still preliminary Anecdotal evidence abounds. Ask any Reiki person about their experiences, and you will be quickly convinced that there is a phenomena here worth studying. The following is intended for the average Reiki student. More detail can be found on www.reikimedresearch.org, and in the studies referenced

Energy is emitted from the hands  - Robert Becker and John Zimmerman found that Reiki practitioners emit pulses of energy in the (0.3-30 Hz) hertz range, which is the same range as brain waves.

Pain Reduction – In a preliminary study of 20 patients, Reiki was found effective, when combined with medications in decreasing pain from cancer

Stress from Dying - terminally ill cancer patients reported general trends included periods of stabilization in which there was time to enjoy the last days of one's life; a peaceful and calm passing if death was imminent; and relief from pain and anxiety.

Change in Basic Health Indicator in Blood - A study found that taking a Reiki course effected the students Hemoglobin and Hematocrit levels, a basic indicator of health.

Improvements in Patients with Serious Illness. - Reiki affects the amount of electric charge found at acupuncture points on the body in 5 patients with lupus, fibromyalgia, thyroid goiter, and multiple sclerosis. All the patients reported increased relaxation after Reiki treatments, a reduction in pain and an increase in mobility.

Emotional Healing with Reiki - Both hands-on and distant Reiki treatments resulted in decreased symptoms of psychological depression and self-perceived stress, and the treatments had the long-term effect. Anxiety levels were were shown to reduce after treatments.

Physiological Changes from Reiki Treatments – Reiki was shown to make improvements in a number of stress level indicators including blood pressure, stress compounds in the saliva, increase in skin temperature, and calming of brain wave activity.

Cancer Patient Therapy – Reiki is used in several hospitals in conjunction with conventional cancer treatments, Reiki eases the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation, improve immune function, ease anxiety and enhance positive emotional attitude, decrease pain and promote relaxation. It is also in general use on a much longer list of hospitals.

There are ongoing clinical trials of Reiki with diabetes, stroke, spinal cord injuries, AIDS, Fibromyalgia and many other diseases and conditions.

This is an excerpt from Pamela Miles website. She has authored a number of papers and kindly included the full text in PDF form her website. This list is current for her website as of spring 2010. Clicking these links will bring you to the papers on her website.

Medical Papers
The quality of health care depends in part on the accuracy of information published in medical journals. The peer-review process is designed to maintain scientifically credible information and research standards. Papers are critiqued and approved by at least two experts (usually researchers or physicians) prior to being accepted for publication.

Miles P. Reiki for Support of Cancer Patients. Advances in Mind-Body Medicine. Fall 2007;22(2):20-26.

Miles P, True G. Reiki–Review of a Biofield Therapy: History, Theory, Practice and Research. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 2003;9(2):62-72.

Miles P. Reiki Vibrational Healing. Interview with Bonnie Horrigan. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 2003;9(4):74-83.

Miles P. Preliminary report on the use of Reiki for HIV-related pain and anxiety. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 2003;9(2):36.

Schmehr R. Case Report: Enhancing the Treatment of HIV/AIDS with Reiki Training and Treatment. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 2003;9(2):120.

Schiller R. Reiki: A Starting Point for Integrative Medicine. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 2003;9(2):20-21.

Miles P. Is there any significant experience with using Reiki in the hospital or ER setting and any literature to support this use? Explore (NY). 2005 Sep;1(5):414.

Miles P. Palliative care service at the NIH includes Reiki and other mind-body modalities. Advances in Mind Body Medicine. 2004 Summer;20(2):30-1.

Pamela Miles was the lead reviewer for the Reiki backgrounder for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). NCCAM is the center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that studies the safety and efficacy of complementary therapies such as Reiki. There is no copyright protection on this document and the government encourages you to use it freely to enhance your health care.

The Reiki module written by Pamela Miles for the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality and Healing, is peer-reviewed and written for the health consumer and for care providers.

Shiflet S, Nayak S, Bid C, Miles P, Agostinelli S. Effect of Reiki Treatments on Functional Recovery in Patients in Post stroke Rehabilitation: A Pilot Study. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2002;8(6):755-763. Pamela was the sole Reiki master on this NIH-funded research project, and as such was involved in the study’s design, training, implementation and interpretation of results.