Palliative Rehabilitation for People with Incurable Cancer

Date: Saturday June 14th, 2025Time: Norway (CEST) –1:00 PM, England (BST) – 12:00 PM
Speakers: Dr. Guro Birgitte Stene, and Dr. Jo Bayly
Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88131642192?pwd=Ffxyg9os10riwh4gCNsxSP2AIY7AD0.1
Meeting ID: 881 3164 2192 Passcode: 999238

Session Information:
As cancer rates rise, especially among older adults, more people are living longer with incurable cancer and experiencing significant disability. This leads to reduced quality of life and increased unplanned hospital admissions—both common unmet needs.

Palliative rehabilitation supports people in maintaining physical, emotional, and social functioning. Integrated into palliative care, it helps individuals, and their families adapt to changes and maintain independence, even as decline progresses. The EU-funded INSPIRE project (2022–2026) aims to develop an effective, accessible short-term palliative rehabilitation program for people with

Speakers:

Dr. Guro Birgitte Stene, Associate Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, is a physiotherapist with expertise in cancer rehabilitation and exercise oncology. Her research focuses on multimodal interventions—including exercise and nutrition—in cancer and palliative care

In her presentation, she will address how palliative rehabilitation is (or isn’t) integrated into healthcare systems across Europe. Although WHO recognizes rehabilitation and palliative care as essential, people with incurable cancer often lack access. The INSPIRE project uses mixed methods to identify integration gaps and barriers such as limited funding, unclear care pathways, and lack of expertise. INSPIRE also works to improve equity in trial participation across six partner countries, developing local strategies to reach underserved populations and promote inclusive access.

Dr. Jo Bayly is a Research Fellow at the Cicely Saunders Institute, King’s College London, and a physiotherapist with a clinical background in specialist palliative care. Her research focuses on rehabilitation, multi-professional care, and assistive devices in palliative settings.

Jo’s presentation will outline the rationale, development, and evaluation of the INSPIRE intervention, now being tested in a multinational randomized controlled trial across six European countries. Developed with input from patients, families, and professionals during her PhD, the intervention addresses the global unmet need for rehabilitation and is designed to be scalable across diverse healthcare systems. Trained practitioners deliver tailored components to meet everyone’s functional goals