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PT Case Study

Movement, Function, Relief and Participation

The following case study is fictional and has been written collaboratively by staff members of the NSW PPC Programme and the QuoCCA initiative. The information aims to help describe the role of Physiotherapy in paediatric palliative Care.

“After a 10year old boy had spinal surgery I was involved with his rehabilitation. He was wheelchair bound and had muscular dystrophy. The operation was to improve his quality of life, but wouldn’t extend it”.

I spent a lot of time with him and his dad celebrating each small gain he made. We had heaps of fun and laughed a lot. The operation had worked well and I could see they wanted to enjoy that victory. And I could see that like all of us, the boy didn’t want to worry about when or how he was going to die, he wanted to love being alive.”

Physiotherapists can help with:

  • Facilitating functional movement
  • Breathing, coughing and respiratory care
  • Exercise for maintaining muscle strength and joint range
  • Aquatic therapy
  • Pain management, fatigue management and relaxation

Supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Health