The Touchstone Process: an ongoing critical evaluation of reiki in the scientific literature.

Holist Nurs Pract. 2010 Sep-Oct;24(5):260-76.

Baldwin AL, Vitale A, Brownell E, Scicinski J, Kearns M, Rand W. Source Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA. abaldwin@u.arizona.edu Abstract BACKGROUND: Reiki is used by a growing number of people but little is known about the scientific basis for its use. PURPOSE: The Touchstone Process was developed as an ongoing process to systematically analyze published, peer-reviewed studies of Reiki, the results being made accessible to the public online. METHOD: Thirteen scientifically qualified experts in the field of Reiki were assembled into 3 teams to retrieve, evaluate, and summarize articles using standardized, piloted evaluation forms. RESULTS: Summaries of 26 Reiki articles, including strengths and weaknesses, were posted on a newly developed Web site (www.centerforreikiresearch.org), together with an overall summary of the status of Reiki research and guidelines for future research: The Touchstone Process determined that only 12 articles were based on a robust experimental design and utilized well-established outcome parameters. Of these articles, 2 provided no support, 5 provided some support, and 5 demonstrated strong evidence for the use of Reiki as a healing modality. CONCLUSION: There is a need for further high-quality studies in this area. PMID: 20706088 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]