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Newly updated for 2026. HIV/AIDS - Universal Precautions provides massage therapists with a practical understanding of HIV, how it is transmitted, and how Standard Precautions can be used to reduce the risk of exposure in the massage therapy setting. The course covers HIV and AIDS, routes of transmission, body fluids that can transmit HIV, activities that do not transmit HIV, and appropriate infection-control practices.
The course also addresses what massage therapists should do when blood is present, how to respond to a potential occupational exposure, HIV testing and the window period, treatment and Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U), and the importance of confidentiality and respectful care. The goal is to help massage therapists respond appropriately and professionally without relying on fear or assumptions about a client's HIV status.
In This Course, You Will Learn:
The difference between HIV and AIDS
How HIV is transmitted and which body fluids can transmit HIV
Which everyday activities and forms of physical contact do not transmit HIV
How Standard Precautions apply to the massage therapy setting
How to reduce the risk of exposure to blood and potentially infectious materials
What to do when a client is bleeding during a massage
What to do following a potential occupational exposure to HIV
Basic information about HIV testing, treatment, and the window period
What Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) means
How confidentiality, respectful communication, and professional boundaries apply when working with clients who have HIV
Why Take This Course?
Understanding how HIV is and is not transmitted can help massage therapists use appropriate infection-control practices without unnecessary fear or stigma. This course provides practical information about Standard Precautions and how they apply to everyday massage therapy situations, including blood exposure, broken skin, contaminated linens, and cleaning and disinfection.
Massage therapists also need to know how to respond appropriately when a client discloses HIV status or when a potential exposure occurs. This course reinforces the importance of confidentiality, respectful care, working within the massage therapist's scope of practice, and basing care on the client's current health, needs, contraindications, and treatment goals.
Define HIV and AIDS and explain the difference between them.
Identify the body fluids and common routes through which HIV can be transmitted.
Identify activities and types of contact that do not transmit HIV.
Explain the purpose of Standard Precautions in the massage therapy setting.
Describe infection-control practices that help prevent exposure to blood and potentially infectious materials.
Explain how to respond when blood is present or when a potential occupational exposure occurs.
Describe basic information about HIV testing, treatment, the window period, and U=U.
Explain the importance of confidentiality, respectful care, and staying within the massage therapist's scope of practice.
Unlimited phone support for course-related questions
The Center for Massage Therapy Continuing Education, LLC is an Approved Provider through the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB); Approved Provider number 409296-00.
Our online massage continuing education courses are also accepted by the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals (ABMP), and most state boards.
For more information on individual state requirements and approvals, please visit our Approvals page and click on your state.
The information given was straightforward and helpful. It gave all the information needed for the exam and personal use directly. It was consistent and helpful. I would recommend this course to my colleagues. - Chelsea Zenier
I like how straight forward it is. I like that informative yet "kind" information was given. I feel much more informed than before reading the text/taking the test. I am slightly more at ease now, than before, regarding working on infected patients. - A. Ostler, LMT
Short and to the point with good information. - Dawn Pocatelli, LMT
I will use the disinfectant solutions provided in my practice right away. - Tran Phong, LMT
I really liked the convenience of being able to take the course on my own time and in the privacy of my home. - Cindy Morgan, LMBT
How can HIV be spread?
A. Through contact with an infected person’s blood
B. Through intercourse with an infected person
C. By sharing needles with an injection drug user who is HIV positive
D. All of the above
The class of drugs used in treating HIV that is designed to interrupt RNA conversion at an early stage of virus replication is called:
A. HAART
B. Protease inhibitors
C. Reverse transcriptase inhibitors
D. Fusion inhibitors
Universal precautions for massage therapists include:
A. The use of intake forms
B. Disinfecting sheets, drapes and massage table/chair
C. Consulting with the client’s primary care physician
D. All of the above
Course Author
About the Instructor
Corrine Rubida, BS, LMT
Corrine completed her massage therapy training at Gateway College of Massage Therapy in 1997 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Healthcare Administration in 2012. She has been practicing and teaching massage therapy since 1997 and currently holds a massage therapy license in South Dakota. She is also a member of the ABMP. In 2002, Corrine founded the Center for Massage Therapy CE to make professional massage continuing education courses available both online and by mail. Since then, she has developed more than 100 home-study massage continuing education courses and has taught live courses for AMTA and the Gateway College of Massage Therapy.
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