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 0:06

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 0:46

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 1:30

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 2:59

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 4:12

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 4:53

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 .