Spas and the Treatment of Patients with Cancer


Over the last years, the spa industry has significantly changed the way it implements its service offerings. Treatments for patients suffering from cancer are only one approach the spa industry has considered as an additional option


for expanding its services.


Although there are still many obstacles to overcome, the health sector offers the spa industry a great opportunity for growth.


Evolution of The Spa Industry Little by little our industry has been moving away from the idea of being a field targeted only to a privileged-few group of people. Thanks in part to the emergence of budget spas, the spa industry has managed to


disengage


from the idea of exclusivity that has surrounded it. The spa industry has also started to consider other options that go beyond the wellness concept playing an active role in the health field. It is precisely in this


context that treatments and


services for patients with cancer have recently made their debut in the spa industry. One of the pioneer spas offering cancer-related treatments is Inspiritas. The success of this American wellness centre is mostly based on its


ability


to deliver proven effective treatments provided by well-trained professionals. Thanks to the combination of traditional Western medicine with complementary therapies, Inspiritas provides services and treatments that not only tackle


physical pain but also help the patient to improve his/her mental state.


Obstacles Inspiritas’s success is also the result of our ability to overcome some of the obstacles that prevent the spa industry from incorporating cancer treatments into its service offerings. Recently, Tracy Walton, owner of Tracy Walton & Associates LLC, listed some of these obstacles in a recent article. The most important one deals with the poor level of training in massage therapy. Tracy Walton


argues that massage


therapists should work on increasing the knowledge of the patient’s medical history so they can adjust the type of massages provided. She also suggests a continuous education in oncology massage. Another way to deal with this issue can be a stronger collaboration between spas and alternative medicine centres in order to get more professional assistance where perhaps a therapist might not feel comfortable without the ‘go-ahead’ or ‘prescription’ of a practitioner.


A different obstacle is the current business model of the spas. According to Lisa Starr, a consultant for Wynne Business,


one of today’s


services. challenges


relies on turning the spa business model into a more medical service less focused on economic revenue. In addition to this, the lack of uniform global regulations regarding treatments have


promoted a lack of consumer confidence in spa


Opportunities Despite the obstacles mentioned above, many professionals in the spa industry are optimistic about the integration of this sector with health-related services. Lisa Starr sees a future where the worlds of spas, wellness, and healing morph into a new type of business model. In short, if the spa industry wants to successfully move into the realm of health-related services, it should pay attention to the training of professionals and the review of its business model. If the spa industry is able to do that, it will move toward a strong future in the delivery of these kinds of services. The ideal scenario here would be to strike a balance between the two extremes as we do not particularly want to face the stringent and inflexible regulations


of the medical sector.


However, we do need to embrace the need for raising the bar on the level of education therapists receive as well as the need for updating our business model and adapting it to the market’s demand.


S onal Uber www oi .spa-bal ance.com


www.spaprofessionalmexico.com


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