The Perspectives on Including Palliative Care in the Indian Undergraduate Physiotherapy Curriculum

According to the guidelines which were published by WHO in 2008, palliative care has been defined as "An approach that improves the quality of life of the patients and their families who face the problems which are associated with life-threatening illnesses, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of an early identification, an impeccable assessment and the treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual". The intervention which is provided as a part of the palliative care has to be provided by health professionals who strictly work as a part of multidisciplinary team and have been specifically trained to an optimal level of competency in the field. The impairment of the physical function and pain are two key problem areas in palliative care, which a physiotherapist deals with. Is a physiotherapist who is trained in India, trained to work as an efficient member of the team in this field? This article deals with the following: 1. What is palliative care and what is its importance? 2. A multidisciplinary approach to palliative care 3. The scenario of palliative care in India 4. The role of physiotherapy in palliative care. 5. The current scenario of physiotherapy education vis a vis palliative care.