Cassie recently attended placement and these were her thoughts:
“I met some of my initial goals and was given resources on the goals I did not meet. There was little opportunity to develop further skills/ knowledge in rehabilitation setting due to the placement and caseload at the time. I had the opportunity to attend Multidisciplinary Team Meeting (MDT) where fatigue was discussed and I was provided with resources on anxiety and fatigue. I learn some valuable skills with pressure management. I was given valuable resources on rehabilitation in Palliative Care.”
The key areas of learning for Cassie were:
“Pressure care management, equipment prescription and processes, assessment processes and Multidisciplinary care for people with Palliative diagnosis.”
As a result of her placement experience Cassie feels that she will be better equipped to support pressure care management within the Palliative setting. Cassie also feels she has increased knowledge of fatigue management and intervention within the Palliative setting; Improved knowledge of when rehabilitation Occupational Therapy (OT) would be beneficial in the Palliative setting and OT role within Palliative Care.
Cassie’s planned work activity will be a staff presentation to provide education on the OT role in Palliative care and updating referral form for OT. I think this is a good starting point as the understanding of the scope of what OT can provide within the Palliative Care setting is variable between staff in the team.