Meet Alison Christian from our Hospice Team!

How long have you worked for Hospice?

20 years


What does your job involve?

My role within the rehabilitation team and the wider multi-disciplinary team is to deliver therapeutic interventions including assessment, physical activity, education and advice. These interventions focus on:

• Working alongside patients to set realistic goals. Examples of patient goals are; to manage feelings of fatigue in order to enjoy some social activities, to improve mobility around the home and garden, to cope better with breathlessness in order to feel less anxious, to be able to walk on the promenade and to manage a short holiday.
• Enabling patients to achieve their set goals.
• Encouraging patients to be as functional and as independent as possible to maintain or enhance their quality of life.
• Encouraging patients and families/carers to self-manage symptoms such as decreased mobility, breathlessness, fatigue, stress and anxiety.

I work with patients with specialist palliative care needs across a variety of hospice settings - the inpatient unit and group outpatient programmes including the FAB (Fatigue and Breathlessness) programme and Your Hospice Your Way. I also run an acupuncture clinic.

What’s your favourite thing about working for Hospice?

The buzz word in the rehab department is enablement!
It’s very rewarding to be alongside patients as they work towards achieving their goals, no matter how small these goals may seem.
No team works in isolation though and it is great experience to work within in a wider team to deliver specialist palliative care.