Report on the 1st UFPST symposium: Shiatsu: A resource for health?

The symposium “Shiatsu: A Resource for Health?,” organized by the UFPST on November 8, 2025, in Paris, explored the role of shiatsu as a complementary health resource. Through testimonies from practitioners, healthcare professionals, patients, and researchers, the event highlighted its observed benefits on stress, pain, quality of life, the therapeutic relationship, and in the management of chronic diseases and long-term conditions.

Concrete experiences in hospitals, addiction care centers, and community-based organizations showed that shiatsu can strengthen therapeutic alliances, support healthcare workers, and be integrated into care pathways, despite the lack of official recognition. Speakers emphasized the importance of ethical practice, solid training, and interprofessional collaboration. Practitioners and physicians agreed on the need for respectful collaboration, where shiatsu does not replace medical treatments but serves as a supportive complement. The challenges of evaluating shiatsu according to conventional evidence-based medicine (EBM) criteria call for a rethinking of research methodologies. This symposium advocates for a reasoned integration of shiatsu, grounded in dialogue, rigor, interdisciplinary cooperation, and a broader shift in health paradigms.