Effects of Palliative Care Training Program on Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs and Experiences Among Student Physiotherapists: A Preliminary Quasi-experimental Study.

Background: Physiotherapists play an inherent role in the multidisciplinary palliative care team. Existing knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and experiences influence their team participation in palliative care.

Aims: The objective of this study was to assess the changes in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and experiences among student physiotherapists who attended a palliative care training program.

Physical therapy in palliative care: from symptom control to quality of life: a critical review.

Physiotherapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing movement potential, within the spheres of promotion, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. Physical therapists practice in a broad range of inpatient, outpatient, and community-based settings such as hospice and palliative care centers where as part of a multidisciplinary team of care, they address the physical and functional dimensions of the patients' suffering. Physiotherapy treatment methods like therapeutic exercise, electrical modalities, thermal modalities, actinotherapy, mechanical modalities, manual physical therapy and assistive devices are useful for a range of life-threatening and life-limiting conditions like cancer and cancer-associated conditions; HIV; neurodegenerative disorders like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis; respiratory disorders like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; and altered mental states.