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Sue Harmsworth,
industry influencer; founder, ESPA
Sue Harmsworth, industry influencer and founder of ESPA, has brought together a group of leading training providers in the UK and Ireland to create the Standards Authority for Touch in Cancer Care (SATCC).
The SATCC’s mission is to offer a national standard, providing people touched by cancer access to appropriately qualified therapists who’re capable of catering to cancer sufferers’ individual needs and to provide a recognised platform for spas to find training courses.
The group’s advisory board has created an informed and jointly-agreed national standard which outlines guidelines for therapists on maintaining safe and effective methods of care while performing massages, facials, manicures, pedicures and other spa treatments on people affected by cancer. It features specific advice for therapists on how to prepare, plan and conduct cancer touch therapy as well as information regarding complex contra-indications such as heat and lymphedema, and how to handle these appropriately.
The need Evidence suggests one in two people born after 1970 in the UK are going to be touched by cancer. Massage therapy can be used to support people who’ve had cancer and has been proven to reduce anxiety and depression and improve sleep quality.
Yet despite this, a vast number of spas still turn away people touched by cancer – arguably at the time they need the most support – due to lack of knowledge and fear of liability. For this reason, some clients don’t inform their therapist they’ve had cancer, meaning massages can’t be adapted appropriately to meet their needs.
Speaking to Spa Business, Harmsworth says: “Historically therapists have been cautious when dealing with customers who’ve had cancer – they are carers and frightened of doing the wrong thing.
“The industry’s approach to serving those touched by cancer has been fragmented for many years, with consumers, trade, therapists and spas alike unsure of the terrain surrounding touch therapy and cancer. Ultimately, we have a responsibility to the therapist and the consumer to ensure they’re embraced by the wellness industry, rather than excluded.”
Motivation to create the SATCC also stems from a group concern over the dilution of therapist training and that many short courses are not advanced or comprehensive enough to sufficiently educate therapists to accommodate those affected by cancer.
Advisory board members share a combined 327 years worth of industry expertise and have trained well over 10,000 therapists (see box). “The passionate, well-educated and incredibly experienced individuals on the advisory board make the SATCC a highly credible, independent, governing body that promotes the support of individuals touched by cancer,” says Harmsworth.
Consumer awareness Online consumer spa directory SpaBreaks.com is partnering with SATCC to allow consumers to identify which spas have SATCC-accredited therapists who are capable of accommodating those who have experienced cancer.
SpaBreaks.com receives over one million consumer visits per month and lists more than 750 UK spas. A hundred spas on the website are already SATCC-approved and the goal is to reach 250 approved facilities by the end of 2020. These will be recognised under an SATCC-certified landing page – called Our Safe Hands Collection.
Training website A partnership has also been struck with Think Tree Hub – an online professional association for complementary practitioners, course providers and the public seeking professional health treatments, CPD and accredited courses.
Think Tree Hub displays a register of professionals and their accreditations, making them discoverable by spas and consumers. Individual therapists, practitioners and small business spas will be able to apply to Think Tree Hub and be registered as SATCC-accredited once their licence, certificates and insurance information have been successfully approved.
Any therapist who is already trained by one of the SATCC advisory board’s training providers will automatically be SATCC-accredited and eligible to register online.
The website will also launch an SATCC web page directing visitors to SATCC-accredited training providers and courses.
Harmsworth concludes that the SATCC has plans to work with charities in the future to help support those touched by cancer by directing them to its accredited spas.
Standards Authority for Touch in Cancer Care committee
• Sue Harmsworth, founder, ESPA; and Sue Harmsworth Ltd
• Lisa Barden, group director of spa and wellness, Arora
• Christine Clinton, founder, Christine Clinton Cancer Care
• Kim Ford, global consultancy examiner and lecturer
• Diane Hey, standards and qualification technical advisor, Habia
• John Holman, MD, Hydrotherm Massage Systems
• Marian Hook, director, MJH Spa and Wellbeing
• Marc Innes, principal, School of Natural Therapies
• Kush Kumar, CEO, Think Tree Hub
• Debbie Moore, co-founder, Amethyst Trust
• Julie Speed, co-founder, Amethyst Trust
• Amanda Winwood, MD, Made for Life Organics and Cancer Touch Therapy Training
• Jennifer Young, owner, Jennifer Young and Defiant Beauty
Find out more
For spas wishing to register for SATCC approval, contact [email protected]. Practitioners or small spas wishing to register, or those looking to set up a curriculum, should email [email protected]
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2020 issue 2
Editor’s letter: Our greatest challenge
Spa and wellness businesses will reopen while COVID-19 is still circulating in the community, meaning we have to find models which work in this new reality, says Katie Barnes. So how will this change the industry?
On the menu: Pivot to digital
Which forward-thinking spas are taking their offerings online during the coronavirus pandemic?
Interview: Mary Celeste Beall
The celebrated Blackberry Farm has opened a sister property in the mountains of Tennessee. The owner tells Spa Business why wellness through nature underpins the new destination
Everyone’s talking about: COVID-19
Spa operators, wellness companies and organisations from around the world talk to Spa Business about the impact of coronavirus and what to expect down the line
Promotion: Simone Gibertoni: Clinique La Prairie
World-renowned medical spa, Clinique La Prairie, is creating a global network of
locations to support clients with their wellbeing, every day of the year, says its CEO
Research: First responders
ISPA’s COVID-19 survey offers insights into how the industry has responded to the global pandemic. Spa Business magazine examines the findings
Hotel spa: Country life: The Newt
Karen Roos, owner of the world-renowned hotel The Newt, on design, gardens and a spa housed in an old cow barn
Insights: Calls to action
Industry leaders around the world come together in a crisis to share ideas and innovations in a series of GWS Collaboration calls. Spa Business magazine reports on the highlights
Insights: Webinar wisdom
Spa Business shares its industry-relevant takeaways from the masses of webinars that are being streamed worldwide
Research: Measure for measure
Intelligent Spas reveals its latest global spa benchmarks and explores what they mean in today’s ever-changing climate
Focus on: Extreme wellness
Spa Business tries out two boundary-pushing, cold immersion retreats led by ‘The Iceman’ Wim Hof and Dr Marc Cohen
Promotion: Barr and Wray: Creating
a seamless journey
With 60 years of experience, Barr and Wray has long been known for excellence in technical design for wellness. Design director Graeme Banks explains the company also offers interior design services
Interview: Juliu Horvath
The founder of Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis tells Spa Business why he’ll never stop adapting his famous movement modality
Promotion: ISPA publishes Reopening Toolkit
A much-needed guide by ISPA gives essential advice on business planning, standard operating procedures, marketing and communications to support spas through the coronavirus crisis
Sue Harmsworth,
industry influencer; founder, ESPA
Sue Harmsworth, industry influencer and founder of ESPA, has brought together a group of leading training providers in the UK and Ireland to create the Standards Authority for Touch in Cancer Care (SATCC).
The SATCC’s mission is to offer a national standard, providing people touched by cancer access to appropriately qualified therapists who’re capable of catering to cancer sufferers’ individual needs and to provide a recognised platform for spas to find training courses.
The group’s advisory board has created an informed and jointly-agreed national standard which outlines guidelines for therapists on maintaining safe and effective methods of care while performing massages, facials, manicures, pedicures and other spa treatments on people affected by cancer. It features specific advice for therapists on how to prepare, plan and conduct cancer touch therapy as well as information regarding complex contra-indications such as heat and lymphedema, and how to handle these appropriately.
The need Evidence suggests one in two people born after 1970 in the UK are going to be touched by cancer. Massage therapy can be used to support people who’ve had cancer and has been proven to reduce anxiety and depression and improve sleep quality.
Yet despite this, a vast number of spas still turn away people touched by cancer – arguably at the time they need the most support – due to lack of knowledge and fear of liability. For this reason, some clients don’t inform their therapist they’ve had cancer, meaning massages can’t be adapted appropriately to meet their needs.
Speaking to Spa Business, Harmsworth says: “Historically therapists have been cautious when dealing with customers who’ve had cancer – they are carers and frightened of doing the wrong thing.
“The industry’s approach to serving those touched by cancer has been fragmented for many years, with consumers, trade, therapists and spas alike unsure of the terrain surrounding touch therapy and cancer. Ultimately, we have a responsibility to the therapist and the consumer to ensure they’re embraced by the wellness industry, rather than excluded.”
Motivation to create the SATCC also stems from a group concern over the dilution of therapist training and that many short courses are not advanced or comprehensive enough to sufficiently educate therapists to accommodate those affected by cancer.
Advisory board members share a combined 327 years worth of industry expertise and have trained well over 10,000 therapists (see box). “The passionate, well-educated and incredibly experienced individuals on the advisory board make the SATCC a highly credible, independent, governing body that promotes the support of individuals touched by cancer,” says Harmsworth.
Consumer awareness Online consumer spa directory SpaBreaks.com is partnering with SATCC to allow consumers to identify which spas have SATCC-accredited therapists who are capable of accommodating those who have experienced cancer.
SpaBreaks.com receives over one million consumer visits per month and lists more than 750 UK spas. A hundred spas on the website are already SATCC-approved and the goal is to reach 250 approved facilities by the end of 2020. These will be recognised under an SATCC-certified landing page – called Our Safe Hands Collection.
Training website A partnership has also been struck with Think Tree Hub – an online professional association for complementary practitioners, course providers and the public seeking professional health treatments, CPD and accredited courses.
Think Tree Hub displays a register of professionals and their accreditations, making them discoverable by spas and consumers. Individual therapists, practitioners and small business spas will be able to apply to Think Tree Hub and be registered as SATCC-accredited once their licence, certificates and insurance information have been successfully approved.
Any therapist who is already trained by one of the SATCC advisory board’s training providers will automatically be SATCC-accredited and eligible to register online.
The website will also launch an SATCC web page directing visitors to SATCC-accredited training providers and courses.
Harmsworth concludes that the SATCC has plans to work with charities in the future to help support those touched by cancer by directing them to its accredited spas.
Standards Authority for Touch in Cancer Care committee
• Sue Harmsworth, founder, ESPA; and Sue Harmsworth Ltd
• Lisa Barden, group director of spa and wellness, Arora
• Christine Clinton, founder, Christine Clinton Cancer Care
• Kim Ford, global consultancy examiner and lecturer
• Diane Hey, standards and qualification technical advisor, Habia
• John Holman, MD, Hydrotherm Massage Systems
• Marian Hook, director, MJH Spa and Wellbeing
• Marc Innes, principal, School of Natural Therapies
• Kush Kumar, CEO, Think Tree Hub
• Debbie Moore, co-founder, Amethyst Trust
• Julie Speed, co-founder, Amethyst Trust
• Amanda Winwood, MD, Made for Life Organics and Cancer Touch Therapy Training
• Jennifer Young, owner, Jennifer Young and Defiant Beauty
Find out more
For spas wishing to register for SATCC approval, contact [email protected]. Practitioners or small spas wishing to register, or those looking to set up a curriculum, should email [email protected]
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2020 issue 2
Editor’s letter: Our greatest challenge
Spa and wellness businesses will reopen while COVID-19 is still circulating in the community, meaning we have to find models which work in this new reality, says Katie Barnes. So how will this change the industry?
On the menu: Pivot to digital
Which forward-thinking spas are taking their offerings online during the coronavirus pandemic?
Interview: Mary Celeste Beall
The celebrated Blackberry Farm has opened a sister property in the mountains of Tennessee. The owner tells Spa Business why wellness through nature underpins the new destination
Everyone’s talking about: COVID-19
Spa operators, wellness companies and organisations from around the world talk to Spa Business about the impact of coronavirus and what to expect down the line
Promotion: Simone Gibertoni: Clinique La Prairie
World-renowned medical spa, Clinique La Prairie, is creating a global network of
locations to support clients with their wellbeing, every day of the year, says its CEO
Research: First responders
ISPA’s COVID-19 survey offers insights into how the industry has responded to the global pandemic. Spa Business magazine examines the findings
Hotel spa: Country life: The Newt
Karen Roos, owner of the world-renowned hotel The Newt, on design, gardens and a spa housed in an old cow barn
Insights: Calls to action
Industry leaders around the world come together in a crisis to share ideas and innovations in a series of GWS Collaboration calls. Spa Business magazine reports on the highlights
Insights: Webinar wisdom
Spa Business shares its industry-relevant takeaways from the masses of webinars that are being streamed worldwide
Research: Measure for measure
Intelligent Spas reveals its latest global spa benchmarks and explores what they mean in today’s ever-changing climate
Focus on: Extreme wellness
Spa Business tries out two boundary-pushing, cold immersion retreats led by ‘The Iceman’ Wim Hof and Dr Marc Cohen
Promotion: Barr and Wray: Creating
a seamless journey
With 60 years of experience, Barr and Wray has long been known for excellence in technical design for wellness. Design director Graeme Banks explains the company also offers interior design services
Interview: Juliu Horvath
The founder of Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis tells Spa Business why he’ll never stop adapting his famous movement modality
Promotion: ISPA publishes Reopening Toolkit
A much-needed guide by ISPA gives essential advice on business planning, standard operating procedures, marketing and communications to support spas through the coronavirus crisis
Global retreat trade show, Synergy The Retreat Show, has launched a resource called The
Source, which hosts an open-access online Transformation Series programme.
The Standards Authority for Touch in Cancer Care (SATCC) charity has announced its first five-
day Living with Cancer and Beyond retreat, which will be held at Carden Park Hotel and Spa in
Cheshire, UK, between 1 and 5 September.
Patmos Aktis, a Luxury Collection Resort and Spa, has opened in Greece, with a renovated and
rebranded wellness offering called Ansana Wellness and Spa.
The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, an Autograph Collection property in Hawaii, US, has opened its
22,000 sq ft indoor-outdoor Spa at Mauna Kea as the final step in the property’s overall
renovation, which has cost more than US$180 million (€166 million, £140 mill
The UK spa review and discovery platform for consumers, the Good Spa Guide, has announced
it will host the Good Spa Guide Awards 2026 during an event on 16 November at Sopwell House
Hotel in St Albans, UK.
Eighty-four per cent of consumers now say wellness is a top priority in their lives, with this
percentage increasing year on year, according to a preview presentation of McKinsey’s Future of
Wellness 2026 research report.
Mass protests have been taking place since Monday 1 June in Albania over the development of
a luxury resort by Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.
Global Wellness Day (GWD) marked its 15th anniversary on Saturday 13 June 2026, with the
theme: #JoyMagenta – a celebration of the healing qualities of simple gestures and activities
that spark joy.
Global luxury hospitality brand, Six Senses, has partnered with longevity healthcare provider,
HUM2N, to launch a clinic at Six Senses London, at The Whiteley.
As part of its first hotel partnership, Mayrlife – the medical health resort company known for its
site in Altaussee, Austria – has launched a day clinic at the Rosewood Vienna.
