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The Hospice Nurse and Occupational Therapist: A Marriage of Expedience

Occupational Therapy Assistant Program at Tidewater Community College in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Hospice has traditionally been a place for travelers to rest and to receive physical and spiritual renewal before continuing on a long journey. For the terminally ill patient, hospice offers this and more in the form of pain and symptom control in an attempt to provide the patient with a semblance of quality of life in his or her final days. Pain is a multifaceted and complicated phenomenon that is not limited to the physical pain of metastatic cancer or other diseases. There are other forms of pain, including the psychological pains of isolation, abandonment, and loss of role. Occupational therapy can offer a respite from this latter pain in the form of active engagement in occupations and activity while providing a sense of competence and contribution and serve as another tile in the mosaic of palliative care.

Key Words: hospice • palliative care • occupational therapy • quality of life • pain control

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