Hospice and Palliative Care Special Interest Group

Mission
To build a network of dedicated team of physiotherapists across the globe by reaching out to member countries of the WPT and encouraging/stimulating interest in palliative care physiotherapy.

Objectives

• Encourage/advocate for inclusive care and universal access to a compassionate, high-quality palliative and end of life rehabilitation when and where needed.
• To use the IPT-HOPE platform to authenticate the advocacy for the full inclusion of physical therapy services in the multidisciplinary palliative care team especially in areas where it is non-existent as well as in other arrears where physiotherapy services are under-utilized, especially in low resource countries.
• Establish a collaborative research network with members to generate evidence-based results in palliative care rehabilitation.
• Update members on the current trends in palliative care rehabilitation through IPT-HOPE Webinars.

Hospice and Palliative Care Special Interest Group Leadership:

Special Interest Group Lead

Dr. John Davidson Okwudili (Nigeria, Africa)

Dr. Davidson Okwudili is an accomplished physiotherapist, educator, and researcher with over a decade of clinical experience and a steadfast commitment to advancing rehabilitation care for underserved populations. His career spans diverse domains, with a particular focus on integrating physical activity and exercise into the rehabilitation of HIV and cancer survivors in Nigeria.

Dr. John earned his Bachelor of Medical Rehabilitation in Physiotherapy, followed by a Master of Science in Cardiopulmonary Physiotherapy and a PhD in Exercise Physiology. During his tenure at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital in Ebonyi State, Nigeria, he served as a key member of the Tumor Board and played a pivotal role in establishing the Oncology and Palliative Care Subunit within the Physiotherapy Department. He served s the team lead of this unit.

Currently, Dr. John is a lecturer at David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Ebonyi State, Nigeria, and a research fellow at INTI International University, Malaysia. His professional responsibilities include teaching, mentoring students, conducting impactful research, and advocating for active living and exercise participation, particularly among HIV and cancer survivors.

As the Chairman of the Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy’s HIV, Hospice, Oncology, and Palliative Care Specialty Group (NSP-HOPE), Dr. John leads initiatives that promote evidence-based rehabilitation practices. His research focuses on the integration of exercise into HIV and cancer care, aiming to improve health outcomes and quality of life for these populations.

Dr. John is a prolific author with numerous publications in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals. His work is widely recognized in the global scientific community, reflecting his dedication to advancing the field of physiotherapy.

Contact Information
Email Dr. John Davidson 

Special Interest Group Education Facilitator

Ryo Soeda (Japan, Asia, Western Pacific)

Ryo Soeda is a physiotherapist, educator, and researcher in Japan with more than 15 years of clinical experience in rehabilitation. He has extensive experience providing rehabilitation to patients with advanced cancer in a palliative care unit, including those approaching the end of life.

He completed a master’s program at Keio University Graduate School of Medicine in 2020 and subsequently earned a PhD in Medicine from the same institution in 2026. He is currently engaged in clinical practice, education, and research in rehabilitation medicine in Japan.

His research focuses on trajectories of activities of daily living (ADL) near the end of life among patients with terminal cancer, factors associated with maintaining ADL among patients with advanced cancer, and rehabilitation approaches that respond to changes in functional status in palliative care. Through this work, he aims to strengthen the evidence base for person-centred rehabilitation throughout the course of advanced illness.

Contact Information
Email Ryo Soeda

Special Interest Group Research Facilitator

Joanne Bayly (Great Britain, Europe)

Jo is currently a post-doctoral Research Fellow and the Scientific Project Manager for the EU Horizon funded project ‘INSPIRE Palliative rehabilitation to improve quality of life for individuals with incurable cancer’ at the Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation, King’s College London (KCL). She is also seconded from KCL to St Barnabas Hospices in Worthing, West Sussex as Research Lead.

She joined the Cicely Saunders Institute, KCL, in June 2016 to conduct her NIHR Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship, developing and feasibility testing the model of short-term palliative rehabilitation currently being tested for effectiveness in the INSPIRE project.

Jo qualified from the Leeds School of Physiotherapy (1987), has a Master of Research in Health Sciences from the University of Liverpool (2011) and a PhD from KCL (2020). She was a specialist physiotherapist at a Hospice in Liverpool from 1996-2015, and this clinical experience informs her research interests, which include models of care for people living with advanced disease and multi-morbidity with a focus on rehabilitation in palliative care.

Contact Information
Email Joanne Bayly