Meet Prakashni, one of Banksia’s Physiotherapists

Prakashni doesn’t consider her work with Banksia a ‘job’, but at this stage in her career and life, her purpose.

“It is an honour and privilege to be a part of someone’s end of life journey”.

In Prakashni’s country of origin South Africa, there was no palliative care because death is considered part of the normal cycle of life. From a young age, Prakashni had the opportunity to be a part of the cultural and traditional rituals surrounding dying and death by attending to her own family members. This began for her a lifelong interest in end of life and Palliative Care.

‘We need to celebrate life every day and reduce the negativity surrounding death. Even when living with a life-limiting illness people can achieve their personal goals, which could just be ‘sitting at a table and enjoying dinner with your partner’, amid all the other challenges they are facing at this stage of their lives”.

Prakashni considers it her life passion to enable clients and carers to live the best they can. She first came to Banksia as a volunteer in 2004 and visited clients in their homes weekly for 8 years. In 2024 she’s returned to Banksia as a physiotherapist and has recently completed a clinical doctorate in Palliative Care in her personal time. What a woman!