#177 Making What Matters Possible: Rehabilitative Palliative Care with Helena Talbot-Rice

Rehabilitative Palliative Care, a contradiction in terms or the very essence of care? Find out In this super discussion with Helena Talbot-Rice Associate Director of Integrated Care  and Interdisciplinary Lead at St Christopher's Hospice. 

This episode has been kindly supported by the Living Well Dying Well Trust. The creation, development and content of the episode remains the responsibility of Clare Fuller.

Key messages

• Rehabilitative palliative care helps people live as fully as possible until the end of life.

• The value of asking what matters to the person, then the importance of  listening and actioning.

• Person-centred goals can support hope, identity and quality of life.

• Small, practical changes can make meaningful experiences possible.

• Open questions can help start important conversations.

• Good palliative care is everyone’s business.

Resource

• Access info and stories about people achieving what matters to them at St Christopher’s Hospice website 

• A resource for professionals and the public available at St Christopher’s rehabilitative palliative care animation 

• Find resources and information about its June awareness day at What Matters to You movement

• Access WMTY.world - A collaboration with The Beryl Institute

• Find out more at Hospice UK publication on rehabilitative palliative care 

• Access Sally Boa’s research and work on goal-setting and goal-attainment planning in palliative care

• Access previous podcast What Matters to You with Karen Turner (Referred to as podcast episode 104)

Bio

Helena joined St Christopher’s in June 2011 after thirteen years working clinically in the acute sector in the NHS. Prior to St Christopher’s, she worked in various large teaching hospitals including St George’s Hospital in Tooting where she specialised in medical oncology, rehabilitation and palliative care. She has lectured and taught nationally and internationally at undergraduate degree level as well as to qualified members of the multidisciplinary team on study days, conferences and bespoke training sessions.

In 2018 she achieved an MSc from City University of London in Voluntary Sector Management and Hospice Leadership, which included a portfolio of evidence covering hospice leadership issues, optimal positioning of hospices in the future, and identification of key stakeholders and strategic partners.

Currently at St Christopher’s Helena leads all the rehabilitation and wellbeing services – this includes allied health professionals (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapy, dietetics), and assistants, complementary therapists, social workers, art and music psychotherapists, cognitive behavioural therapists and welfare officers. She is particularly interested in developing the role of rehabilitation in palliative care, and promoting the multi-disciplinary ethos of rehabilitative palliative care.