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INTRODUCTION OF CRANIOSACRAL
THERAPY AND ITS ACCEPTANCE AS A
PAIN RELIEF METHOD AMONG ELDERLY
IN HONG KONG
Poster
CHAN Wing Leung
BSc (Hons) in Chinese Medicinal Pharmacy
Department of Food and Health Sciences
OBJECTIVES RESEARCH BACKGROUND
To collect preliminary data from elderly Craniosacral therapy (CST) is a gentle, noninvasive, hands-on technique that
via craniosacral therapy introduction involves placing hands on the body to address tension in the connective tissue
activity program regarding pain known as fascia.
relief in selected non-government Since complementary and alternative treatments/medicines are emerging
organization community centre in intervention to be employed in Hong Kong, the aim of this project is to raise
Hong Kong for analyzing the cognition public awareness of CST as a complementary and alternative treatments/
and acceptance of the above therapy, medicines with potential health benefits, especially for pain relief among
treating as one of the complementary the elderly, and hopefully to encourage healthcare policy review by relevant
and alternative medicine methods for stakeholders. This pilot study seeks to assess public awareness of CST as a
pain relief. complementary treatment from a novel perspective.
To explore potential development
of craniosacral therapy being the METHODOLOGY
alternative and complementary A cross-sectional study design was utilized to collect demographic and analytical
medicine in Hong Kong and discuss data from older adults aged over 60 using structured questionnaires before and
future studies about the possibility after the educational talk session on craniosacral therapy (CST) at a community
of adding alternative therapies in our centre, assessing their cognition and acceptance of CST.
primary health system. Pre-talk questionnaires included open-ended questions designed to explore
participants’ selection of massage therapy and alternative pain relief methods,
providing deeper insights into their choices. Additionally, the Pain Self-Efficacy
ABOUT THE INVESTIGATOR Questionnaires (PSEQ) were utilized to evaluate participants' overall confidence
in managing pain.
I am interested in expanding my Post-talk questionnaires were employed to gather subjects' feedback on their
understanding of the pharmacology understanding and acceptance of the therapy after the educational talk session.
and therapeutic effects of Chinese
medicines. I seek to explore various FINDINGS
alternative therapies, including body,
foot massage, craniosacral therapy, Pre-talk questionnaires show that 3% of them had heard of "Craniosacral
Tai Chi Quan practice. I am confident Therapy" indicating a lack of awareness about elderly individuals. 49% reported
experiencing massage therapy for pain relief including body massage, foot
that integrating both Chinese and massage, Chinese massage, Thai massage or acupuncture. The mean total
Western knowledge in these areas will Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ) score was 40.14 (SD=12.33), with a
benefit my professional development median value of 40, signifying that the subjects had moderate pain-confidence
and contribute to the community. My level compared to a maximum score of 60.
FYP supervisor is Ms Florence YIP.
Post-talk questionnaire data demonstrated that all participants understood
the concept of craniosacral therapy following the educational session. 97%
expressed confidence in CST’s potential to relieve bodily pain. 95% showed
willingness to consider CST as a complementary approach for future pain
management. Future studies should also evaluate cost-effectiveness before
broader implementation.
47 Student Applied Research Presentations 2025 Student Applied Research Presentations 2025
