Tina Brown, MA, LMT, PhD(c), is a doctoral candidate in the Indiana University Indianapolis School of Health and Human Sciences whose research focuses on innovative approaches to supporting self-care and self-management for individuals experiencing musculoskeletal pain. Tina presented her work at Massage Therapy Foundation’s 2025 International Massage Therapy Research Conference (IMTRC), where she shared preliminary study design features and rationale from her dissertation research examining how Facebook group engagement can be used as an accountability tool to support adherence to self-administered massage.
Tina is the Principal Investigator on the study, “Novel Accountability Method for a Self-Massage Intervention Among Adults with Knee Pain,” which is currently recruiting through MassageNet. Self-care interventions such as self-massage hold considerable promise as accessible, low-cost approaches that individuals can incorporate into daily life outside of formal healthcare settings. However, sustaining engagement with these interventions remains a challenge for both clinicians and researchers. Tina's work explores innovative accountability strategies designed to encourage adherence while generating insight into participants' experiences using self-massage as a self-management approach for knee pain.
A practicing massage therapist with more than 24 years of experience in a variety of clinical settings, Tina provides care in both chiropractic rehabilitation and hospital-based integrative medicine environments. Her decision to pursue a PhD was driven by a desire to contribute high-quality massage therapy research that advances the profession's scientific foundation and supports greater recognition of massage therapy as a valuable component of healthcare.
As a researcher, clinician, and emerging scholar, Tina embodies the practitioner-informed, patient-centered spirit of MassageNet. By investigating questions that arise directly from clinical practice and patient experience, her work contributes to the growing evidence base supporting massage-related interventions and their integration into everyday health management. We look forward to sharing future updates and findings from Tina's exciting research as her projects continue to develop.