The role of the occupational therapist in the care of people living with lung cancer

Occupational therapists are integral members of the lung cancer multidisciplinary team, working with lung cancer patients in the inpatient hospital setting, hospital outpatient clinics and in the community. The occupational therapists’ focus is on enabling an individual’s participation in chosen everyday activities (1,2). For people living with metastatic lung cancer, this entails enabling continued participation in the face of functional decline and increasing symptom burden. This focus can also include rehabilitation for people who have undergone curative treatment for their lung cancer, with the aim of facilitating a return to previous chosen and meaningful roles