Research
- Exploring optimal ways of making massage research results available to practitioners worldwide, on an open-access basis
- Example: mining existing research literature for massage-specific information, and publishing that research on the Web freely available to individuals, as well as to best practices efforts in massage professional organizations
- Example: providing tools that permit experienced practitioners of massage the ability to generate and validate knowledge, as well as simple and user-friendly ways to share it with other practitioners on a large scale
- Example: conducting original research into the mechanisms and clinical outcomes of massage, and disseminating that information with specific, user-friendly recommendations for clinical practice and indications for further research
- Example: mining existing research literature for massage-specific information, and publishing that research on the Web freely available to individuals, as well as to best practices efforts in massage professional organizations
- Finding out how the diffusion and usage in practice of validated knowledge can be actively promoted among massage practitioners
- Example: exploring innovative ways to use technology for communicating validated knowledge to visual and kinesthetic learners, as well as through traditional means developed for verbal learners
- Example: generating new knowledge in massage by making it easy for practitioners to share their knowledge with each other on a large scale
- Example: exploring innovative ways to use technology for communicating validated knowledge to visual and kinesthetic learners, as well as through traditional means developed for verbal learners
- Developing ways to counteract the disciplinary fragmentation of knowledge by integrating massage and established scientific disciplines into a truly holistic and rigorous massage science
- Examples: developing and publishing validated, evidence-based knowledge repositories for the endocrinology of massage, the neuroanatomy of massage, and so forth
Education
- Bringing the latest findings in anatomy, physiology, and pathology, and other relevant scientific disciplines to the local massage community
- Example: making continuing education on massage science inexpensive, flexible, and convenient through the use of various formats, including occasional pro bono publico offerings. A recent offering, "Cross-Cultural Massage in Seattle: Ethiopian Communities" (Webpage accessed 22 March 2009), integrated case reports in massage among Ethiopian refugees and immigrants with the science behind the massage—anatomy, physiology, physical and cultural anthropology, and the pharmacognosy of Ethiopian medicinal plants.
- Example: making continuing education on massage science inexpensive, flexible, and convenient through the use of various formats, including occasional pro bono publico offerings. A recent offering, "Cross-Cultural Massage in Seattle: Ethiopian Communities" (Webpage accessed 22 March 2009), integrated case reports in massage among Ethiopian refugees and immigrants with the science behind the massage—anatomy, physiology, physical and cultural anthropology, and the pharmacognosy of Ethiopian medicinal plants.
- Providing hands-on experiential learning in the natural sciences of biology, chemistry, physics, ecology and environmental science, and the social sciences of anthropology, sociology, psychology, and economics as they intersect and connect with massage
- Examples: enhanced, life-long-experiential learning through the use of laboratories, field trips, and other participatory activities
Applied Research and Service
- Providing massage for people living with the aftereffects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and spinal-cord injury (SCI)
- Example: supervised preceptorships working with injured returning veterans
- Example: supervised preceptorships working with injured returning veterans
- Providing outreach massage services for underserved populations in the Puget Sound area and in Washington State
- Examples: supervised preceptorships and mentoring for working with refugee, low-income, and rural populations in various areas
- Examples: supervised preceptorships and mentoring for working with refugee, low-income, and rural populations in various areas
- Providing professional development for newly-graduated and experienced massage practitioners who wish to acquire, cultivate, and develop skills in research literacy and research capacity
- Examples: critical thinking, reading a research study for applications in massage practice, designing a study, grant-writing
Core Values
MIRI centers all of its efforts on its diverse stakeholders, and is
grounded in the values of excellence, creativity, and democratization of access to high-quality scientific and biomedical information and healthcare. MIRI is committed to a team model of research and education, to pluralism, innovation, collaboration, and shared decision-making. A rapidly-changing society demands responsiveness; MIRI welcomes the challenge to be a part of that society’s emerging future by responding in a way that delivers quality and integrity in a flexible, nimble, and human-centered way. As a beneficiary to whom much has been given, MIRI recognizes its responsibility to pay this gift forward by increasing access to those who come along later—in this case by making the fruits of scientific and biomedical research much more widely accessible.
Mission
MIRI is a stakeholder-centered research, educational, and service institution, deeply committed to providing high-quality, validated scientific and biomedical information, and the means to generate and publish such information, to diverse communities. This mission includes increasing access to communities and participants who historically have not had as much access as others have had. Innovative promotion of life-long learning is an integral part of MIRI’s mission. As a solid partner in the community, MIRI takes very seriously its role in participating in economic, cultural, and social renewal, regionally and nationally, as well as globally.
MIRI is currently seeking partners in order to realize this vision, mission, and values. If you share these values, and are enthusiastic about transforming MIRI’s potential into reality, please contact Ravensara Travillian, PhD, LMP, at miri.scor@gmail.com for more information.
