AHP Bite Size Learning - Promoting Empowerment and Choice for those living with long term and palliative conditions

Thursday 22nd January 2026

12:00 pm to 1:30 pm

Online

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Who should attend:

This session is suitable for therapists or healthcare professionals interested in learning how to support people to actively manage their health conditions and make decisions that align with their goals and values

Course Aims:

We hope to share our expertise and resources to support therapists in all healthcare settings to feel confident in promoting independence and empowerment to your service users

Objectives:

To identify the challenges faced by therapists for promoting self-management for those living with life limiting conditions
To share helpful communication and facilitative strategies to support individual empowerment & engagement
To understand the importance of optimising family and community engagement when thinking about discharging patients form a healthcare setting

Presented by

Amy Smissen

Lecturer Practitioner/ Community Occupational Therapist

Amy is a qualified Occupational Therapist with 25 years experience working in both clinical and leadership roles. With a passion for the palliative rehab approach to empower patients to self-manage Amy enjoys sharing her knowledge and skills within the team and wider audiences.

Throughout her career she has worked in a range of settings including a community learning disability team, an inpatient neurological rehab unit and a local charity providing support to people living with long-term neurological conditions.

Amy joined the Hospice of St Francis in 2023 and works 3 days a week in the Community Team, bringing her unique OT perspective to enable community patients to optimise their function and ultimately, their overall quality of life. Amy has always enjoyed facilitating therapeutic groupwork sessions, running workshops and training sessions both for patients and carers and with fellow clinicians. These skills lend themselves well to her Lecturer Practitioner role, which she took on in early 2024.

Manisha Cook

Lecturer Practitioner and Specialist Physiotherapist

The Hospice of St Francis

Manisha has been qualified physiotherapist for over 20 years, she is passionate about respiratory medicine and palliative care.

Manisha has worked as a specialist physiotherapist at The Hospice of St Francis for 9 years and previously has worked in community and acute healthcare settings in London and Hertfordshire.

Manisha has recently completed her level 4 Certificate in Teaching and Education, and is committed to providing a specialist palliative education programme for Allied Health Professionals and the wider multi-disciplinary team.