New Campaign Promotes Healthy Touch

(L—R): John Fleming, Cynthia Fleming, Anicia Fleming, Lisa Smith, Janiece Fleming, Dr. Dale Glaebach, Versandra Kennebrew, Wanda Weeks and Gerline Moore at the Touch is Great Campaign launch in Detroit, Michigan.

The subject of touch deprivation is being addressed in workshops and demonstrations throughout the United States, thanks to a national campaign aimed at educating the public about appropriate touch.

The Touch is Great Campaign, founded by Versandra Kennebrew, a massage therapist and founder of Health and Fitness ICU in Detroit, Michigan, launched Sept. 15. The campaign promotes appropriate touch among adults, the elderly, children and couples.

Kennebrew said she developed the campaign in June to improve the public’s perception of massage.

“A lot of people have different thoughts about massage, and a lot of different massage therapists were not getting the business they needed because there was something missing,” she said. “We just started asking clients if there was something that kept them from getting on the table. People said they didn’t feel comfortable with having someone touch them.”

Once she researched the topic of touch deprivation, or lack of loving touch, she found it could produce negative effects in people, such as depression, anxiety and violent behaviors.

“The more I read, the more I realized this is a bigger issue in our society,” Kennebrew said. “We decided we were going to become touch’s great ambassador.”

Since the launch, she has created events and gathered a team of touch professionals to help educate the public about healthy touch.

Art of Touch workshops, an e-book titled Recipes that Cure Touch Hunger, an infomercial about the campaign on www.youtube.com and a Touch is Great Virtual Expo package are just a few ways healthy touch is being promoted. In addition, the Touch is Great Campaign was scheduled to be featured on an Internet radio show in October.

Kennebrew also has a six-city tour planned for 2008, along with a high school essay and drama contest, in which winners will be offered financial support to attend massage school.

“My goal is just to see happier, healthier people walking around, not afraid of one another, hugging more [and] being more joyful,” she said.

Visit www.touchisgreat.com for more information and details on how to become a Touch is Great Ambassador.

—Jennifer Whalen