The Benefits of Rehabilitation for Palliative Care Patients

Palliative care requires an interdisciplinary team approach to provide the best care for patients with life-threatening illnesses. Like palliative medicine, rehabilitation also uses an interdisciplinary approach to treating patients with chronic illnesses. This review article focuses on rehabilitation interventions that can be beneficial in patients with late stage illnesses. Rehabilitation may be useful in improving the quality of life by palliating function, mobility, activities of daily living, pain relief, endurance, and the psyche of a patient while helping to maintain as much independence as possible, leading to a decrease in burden on caregivers and family. Rehabilitative services are underutilized in the palliative care setting, and more research is needed to address how patients may benefit as they approach the end of their lives.