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Charting The Science of Structural Integration and its Benefits for the Human Being
The Ida P. Rolf Research Foundation encourages and supports interdisciplinary, scientifically sound research focusing on the therapeutic mechanisms, clinical effects, longer-term health effects, and utilization of Structural Integration, a therapeutic method designed to evoke whole body improvement of function and well-being.
Foundation grant-making focuses on bringing together scientific, medical, and related professionals with practitioners of Structural Integration at several levels to explore, define, verify and expand the scientific bases of Dr. Rolf’s concepts and their role in improving the human condition.
The Foundation’s inaugural event was The International Fascia Research Congress in October 2007. The first international conference was dedicated to fascia in all its forms and functions and drew over 650 scientists and practitioners from 28 countries to the Conference Center, Harvard Medical School. The next Congress is scheduled for October 2009, hosted by Vrije University in Amsterdam.
What's New
Latest Research: Peer Reviewed Medline Article on Structural Integration Rolfing® Structural Integration Treatment of Cervical Spine Dysfunction demonstrates that the basic ten-session series of Rolfing Structural Integration (RSI), when applied by a physical therapist with advanced RSI certification, is capable of significantly decreasing pain and increasing active range of motion in adults with cervical spine dysfunction. The retrospective study will be published in the Medline-indexed Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. Article authors: Helen James MPT, Professor Emerita, Luis Castaneda, Student Physical Therapist, Marilyn E. Miller PhD, PT, GCS, and Thomas Findley MD, PhD.
Foundation Awards First Grant: Torsional Stiffness of Pelvic Motion: "Automated Measurement and Changes after Clinical Treatment." The Foundation awarded a $4000 grant to Hans Chaudhry, PhD at New Jersey Institute of Technology to further research using an Anatomical Torsion Monitor (ATM). This US-patented medical instrument was developed by an engineer and an osteopathic physician and provides an inexpensive and noninvasive assessment of low back stiffness and elasticity, specifically focusing on the rotational motion of the lumbar spine. The device will be automated to improve reliability and reduce testing time. The improved ATM will be used in a study to empirically measure the effects of the Rolfing® Structural Integration ten-series of sessions on subjects’ low back dysfunction. Based on these outcomes, the ATM could be an important tool for identifying ways to make Structural Integration interventions more effective.
Advanced Rolfer™ Eric Jacobson, receives Mentored Research Scientist Development Award from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The award will support up to five years of training in research methods and a pilot study of Structural Integration as a therapy for chronic low back pain. The primary sites of the project will be Osher Research Center, Harvard Medical School, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston.
We've set a goal of $100,000 in contributions in order to award three or four pilot research projects in the coming year. Your contributions are making ongoing Structural Integration research a reality. Make a contribution.
The Second International Fascial Research Congress is accepting registration. The conference will be held on October 27-30, 2009 at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Space is limited, so register now.
