Our Occupational Therapist works closely with our Inpatient Ward and patients under the Living Well Programme/Wellbeing service.

We promote and encompass palliative rehabilitation. This will look different to every person, but it is based on a patient’s need to find purpose and meaning in the life they have left to live. The Occupational Therapist will help patients to ensure their strengths and skills are working in a suitable environment to allow them to do the things they want or need to do.

Through the therapeutic use of everyday activities, the Occupational Therapist will work with patients to achieve their goals. This can be done by:

• Creating an individual rehabilitation programme aiming to increase independence, strength, co-ordination, exercise tolerance and confidence.
• Adapting the environment to suit the individuals needs with equipment, aids or altering the home layout.
• Assessment and support for patients and families with difficult symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety, breathlessness and other sensitive issues. 
• Finding strategies to allow the individual to manage the difficulties in their lives and to be able to engage in what is meaningful.
• Looking at tasks you find difficult and see if there's another way you can do them.
• Supporting patients to see what they can do and what is possible. 

We use a range of physiotherapy treatments, exercises and techniques to improve or maintain physical functioning, improve quality of life and support patients’ wishes to remain living their lives to full potential, whilst maximising independence.

Common problems that may be helped by Physiotherapy include:

• reduced mobility
• fatigue and lethargy
• shortness of breath
• muscle weakness
• neurological impairment and pain.

Our Physiotherapist works across the Inpatient Ward, Living Well service, and Wellbeing team, and sees Hospice at Home patients either in their own homes or at the hospice building in Gravesend as an Outpatient.

Physiotherapy focuses on helping patients to improve and maintain their quality of life, and to make people as independent as possible regardless of prognosis. Physiotherapists will provide rehabilitation to people with a palliative diagnosis so they can function with as minimal dependence on others as possible.

Our Physiotherapist can help with several specific areas, these include:

• Mobility: The Physiotherapist can assess and prescribe appropriate walking aids and exercises for people whose walking is becoming more difficult.
• Breathlessness: Breathlessness can be a very distressing and disabling symptom for many people. Physiotherapists can help by teaching breathing techniques, relaxation methods and advice on pacing and managing daily activities. If a patient has difficulty clearing secretions from your chest they can also help with this.
• Exercise: All people with a palliative diagnosis need to try to stay active and maintain as much independence as possible. Physiotherapists can assess and prescribe specific exercise programmes suitable for people under our care.
• Fatigue: Fatigue is a common and often troubling symptom and affects people’s function considerably. The evidence shows that exercise is a good way of combatting fatigue. Physiotherapists can assess patients for a suitable exercise programme.