When people think of physiotherapy, they often associate it with recovering from an injury or surgery. But in palliative care, physiotherapy serves a different yet equally meaningful purpose. It empowers patients to continue living as independently as possible.
Rather than focusing on what patients can no longer do, physiotherapy focuses on preserving what they can. At Assisi Hospice Day Care, our patients work on maintaining muscle strength, balance and endurance through personalised exercise programmes, helping them perform everyday activities such as walking short distances, opening doors, reaching for shelves, or getting on and out of a chair.
Our patients benefit from specialised strength training machines, kindly sponsored by Lien Foundation. Unlike conventional gym equipment that uses heavy weight stacks, our gym machines use gentle air-pressure resistance, providing smooth, controlled movements that are kinder on the joints. The machines can start with almost no resistance and increase in very small increments, making them well suited for patients with varying levels of strength and mobility.
Physiotherapy can also help reduce the risk of falling through balance exercises, ease pain through movement and positioning, improve breathlessness with breathing techniques, and reduce fatigue by building overall fitness while teaching energy conservation strategies. Beyond the physical benefits, physiotherapy offers patients a renewed sense of confidence, even as their physical abilities decline.
“Patients with serious illnesses can still enjoy a good quality of life,” said Assisi Hospice Senior Physiotherapist Joseph Chen. “Physiotherapy helps them achieve that through maintaining function, managing symptoms, and supporting them to continue doing the things that matter to them.”
