An Introduction to the Spa Industry

This week we'll begin our investigation of the spa industry.

Weekly tasks

1. Read Salvo - p. 666 - 672
   
   
2. Elluminate Monday 1-3pm
   Spa history
   Types of spas
   Hydrotherapy
   
   
3. Browse Salvo - Chapter 24 - Spa applications
   
   • Try to make sure you have an understanding of what the following spa terms mean: pack, bath, frictions
   • Browse the rest of the section taking an in-depth look at a minimum of 5 applications
   • Choose one of those applications & follow the application procedure, administering treatment to one of your classmates.
     
   
   
4. Elluminate Thursday 10-12
   Spa applications
   The spa experience
   

Getting ready for the exam

With two weeks of the semester to go, I'm sure you're all focussed on preparation for the exams.

Regarding the exam

We've covered quite a range of topics over this course, all could be assessed, so make sure you have a good understanding of all of them.

Some of the exercises which have suffered from very low participation over the last couple of weeks are likely to be assessed, so either get into them now, or ensure that you understand the issues posed.

Spa ethics

I'm disappointed by the participation in the work on the last two weeks tasks, but we're now running out of time, so we need to move on. I encourage you all to revisit the documents mentioned in the last two weeks and build on what is already there.

This week, we're going to consider ethics as they relate to the spa environment. We'll consider scope of practice, working as an employee, referring out, and other ethical considerations.

An elluminate session was held on Wednesday 12th November at 11am.
It has been recorded (click on the link above to view it).

Spa trends & working in the spa environment

I'm wondering what you're all doing with your time, as there's been very little work put into the tasks set last week. So here they are again...
(These are both assessable topics)

We were going to start on spa ethics today, but this'll keep you busy enough, so we'll start spa ethics next week.


Tasks for the week

Continue talking about the impact of current spa trends on massage therapy.

• Four people have contributed to the discussion so far. This is a good start, but we have some more work to do here, so we'll continue working on this document this week. If you haven't contributed anything please do so. If you have contributed information, please reference it.
  

Talk about working in the spa industry.

• By now you as a class will have a fairly broad perspective on what working in the spa industry would be like. Let's put what we know together. Have a look at the Google document working in the spa industry, and add what you know.

Week 14 - Working in the spa industry

This week we'll have a look at working in the spa industry.

Tasks for the week

Continue talking about the impact of current spa trends on massage therapy.

• Four people have contributed to the discussion so far. This is a good start, but we have some more work to do here, so we'll continue working on this document this week. If you haven't contributed anything please do so. If you have contributed information, please reference it.
  

Talk about working in the spa industry.

• By now you as a class will have a fairly broad perspective on what working in the spa industry would be like. Let's put what we know together. Have a look at the Google document working in the spa industry, and add what you know.
  

Mid-block tutorial - if there's anything you'd like me to cover, please let me know ASAP.

Week 12 - the spa experience

About 90 minutes ago I posted some new learning activities for you for this week, but I have just realised that the imminence of your anatomy assessment means that your time will be limited.

As a result we're going to continue on with the discussion of the spa experience, and delay looking at spa trends until next week.

Week 13 - Trends in the spa industry

This week in spa therapies we'll have a look at where the spa industry is going.

Assessment
Your thermal stones assessment is coming up. Please ensure that you know the date and time of your clinical assessment.


Tasks for this week

Read the following and take notes on the key trends which are impacting the spa industry (bearing in mind that trends change over time, and some of these articles are more current than others).

• Day spas & medical spas - Key industry trends and critical success factors (2006)
• When considering a spa for your hotel or club, don't forget about the men!
• Top spa trends (2007)
• Pre Global Spa Summit: The future of the spa industry - an update from the previous article.
• Profitable spas: be on-trend rather than trendy

How do these trends impact on the massage industry? Consider this question, and post your replies to the Google document - The impact of current spa trends on massage therapy.