MAKING A DIFFERENCE Susie Lowden discusses the positive impact an occupational therapist can bring to patients and their loved ones under hospice care
“T
hat must be really depressing.” I hear this a lot, people think working in a hospice is going to be sad and upsetting, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
I started off my career several years ago, as many do in a hospital, rotating through the various wards and departments to get a rounded experience of OT life. To further my knowledge base, I then spent some time working within a mental health setting, which helped me understand the cognitive challenges our patients face as well as the physical. This set me up nicely for a role in social services which I found myself in for a decade. I loved how varied and different each day could be, with each client bringing their own set of problems and difficulties to solve. It was during this time that I had my first encounter 22
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with what I would consider an ‘end of life’ experience. This was a brand-new experience for me, and I spent several hours working with the family with practical tasks, moving furniture, getting a profiling bed in place and making the patient comfortable. I ended that working day feeling like I’d made an immediate and significant impact on that patient and their loved ones’ lives. At the end of that day, I went home and looked up palliative care jobs. That was the beginning of a whole new chapter in my career.
AN OT’S ROLE IN A HOSPICE I’d never stepped foot in a hospice myself; I’d always assumed it was a place where people go to die. I didn’t think there would be a role for an OT in this setting.
