Allied Health and Palliative Care

Allied health professionals care for people with palliative care needs in specialist palliative care settings, acute and subacute inpatient settings and in the community and residential aged care facilities.

Management and coordination of care for people living with a life-limiting illness benefits from a multidisciplinary team approach involving a range of health professionals. This includes allied health professionals who have an important role across various settings either as a team member or sole practitioner.

Dependent on their discipline, allied health professionals can help with symptom management including support with medication, nutrition, communication and mobility; help the person to maintain function and independence; offer emotional support; share information about disease progression and help to plan future care; and help connect the person and families to supportive services.

With increased calls for allied health professional involvement in palliative care, there is a need to support understanding and skill development in this area. In this section we present information and resources relevant to the roles in palliative care of:

• Dietitians
• Music therapists
• Occupational therapists
• Physiotherapists
• Psychologists
• Social workers
• Speech pathologists.