Encourage patients to stick to their daily routine, advises Hospice UK charity

Hospice staff should encourage patients to wear ordinary clothes – rather than pyjamas or nighties – during the day to avoid fulfilling the ‘role’ of someone who is ill.

The advice comes in a report written by the Hospice UK charity alongside other hospices and the Burdett Trust for Nursing, and describes how hospices can help individuals maintain a normal daily routine as part of a ‘rehabilitative’ approach to palliative care.

The report says patients should be encouraged, where possible, to get out of bed for all meals to support safe swallowing, and to walk, if possible, as a way of remaining active.

Hospice UK national director Ros Taylor said: ‘For too long, healthcare has focused on solving problems and symptoms, rather than what really matters to the person who is ill. A rehabilitation approach to palliative care is central to the person-centred ethos of palliative care, and this new report encourages hospices to promote a culture that helps patients to thrive, not just survive, when faced with uncertainty and serious illness.’

To read the report click here