Occupational Therapy in End-of-Life Care: The perceptions of occupational therapists and their clients and the effect of the practice setting.

Abstract

End-of-life care is the care received by an individual in their final year of life. Occupation is a term used to describe activities that an individual chooses to do either because they want to or have to. Throughout life, occupations enable people to learn new skills, connect with others and find purpose in life. Recognising that this continues until the point of death, occupational therapists enable individuals receiving end-of-life care to carry out occupations that they wish to, helping them to live in the face of death, and, in turn, to come to terms with death. Within this project, a review of current literature will investigate the role of occupational therapy in end-of-life care, and what occupational therapists and their clients think of it. Underpinned by the findings of the literature review a study is then proposed that would explore the impact of an inpatient hospital environment on how occupation at the end of life is experienced. This would be achieved through semi-structured interviews with individuals, themes would then be drawn from the interview transcripts. It is expected that the findings of this study would enable occupational therapists to adapt their practice to their client group more effectively, helping to improve the quality of care, and quality of life for those at the end of life.