PDF version - National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization

From the NCHPP Allied Therapist Section*
PT in
Hospice:
A Shared
Partnership
for Quality
of Life
By Karen Mueller,
PT, DPT, PhD
While most people
do not view
“physical therapy”
and “hospice” as an obvious
partnership, emerging evidence
and recent healthcare policy
change suggests that the time
has come to reconsider this
viewpoint.
The Medicare Hospice Conditions
of Participation (CoPs), for
example, specifically requires
that “physical therapy services
be made available to patients
and provided by licensed
professionals.”
When this rule was included in
the 2008 revision of the Hospice
CoPs, it was no doubt a source
of confusion among many health
care providers, begging the
question, why would any patient
in hospice need the services of a
physical therapist?
The answer is simple, and
underscores the shared mission
of NHPCO and the American
Physical Therapy Association
(APTA): To improve the quality
of life of those we serve.
Some Compelling Evidence
Although physical therapy services
are generally associated with
the improvement of function
through rehabilitation and other
interventions, hospice patients also
seek the best possible quality of
life, which for most, involves the
optimization of remaining function
in light of their hospice diagnosis.
Interventions related to the
enhancement of comfort, function,
energy conservation and nonpharmacological
approaches to
pain management are all within
the physical therapy profession’s
scope of practice, and these
interventions can be highly
effective for patients in hospice.
By way of example, four powerful
testimonies come to mind:
• A two-year-old boy with a
medulloblastoma underwent
surgical resection and placement
of a ventriculo-peritoneal
shunt. Hospice physical therapy
enabled his parents to address
developmental sequence
activities, positioning, and
equipment issues to promote
mobility and quality of life
during his months at homes
at home.
*The National Council of Hospice and Palliative Professionals (NCHPP) is comprised of 15 discipline-specific
Sections that represents the staff and volunteers who work for NHPCO provider-members. To learn more
about this NCHPP Section, visit the NHPCO website.
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