Patients’ experiences of clinical foot reflexology in a hospital cancer service

 Reflexology is a complementary therapy that involves applying alternating gentle and firm pressure to the feet or hands to induce relaxation. In the context of cancer care, reflexology treatment aims to provide symptom relief and improve patients’ quality of life. Since 2014 a clinical foot reflexology service has been offered at Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust cancer service for patients receiving cancer treatments. This article describes the foot reflexology service and the treatment offered. It also reports the findings of a service evaluation that involved a retrospective review of patient combined consent/evaluation forms to identify patient concerns (symptoms), to measure patients’ self-reported levels of concern before and after reflexology treatment and to capture patients’ experience of the service.