We are currently supporting 20 Hospices, Palliative Care Units and Training Programmes across Kenya, to provide quality palliative care, and train health workers and community volunteers.
We are pleased to be able to support the reopening of Busia Hospice after a two year closure. We are supporting the new team to train 20 community health volunteers and to carry out home-visits and raise community awareness of their services.
Coast Hospice in Mombasa is providing care to patients with our support towards home visits, day care and the purchase of essential medicines and medical supplies. We will also support Coast to train 60 community health volunteers in 2022.
We are supporting Laikipia Hospice to purchase essential medicines and visit patients to provide home-based care. They will also carry out legal training for patients and family members to enhance their knowledge in writing a will and their legal rights. We are also supporting Laikipia Hospice in partnership with the Community Awareness Volunteers of Nanyuki Cancer Support Group to raise awareness of cancer in the local community and to provide care to patients in their homes.
This year we are providing partial sponsorship for nurses undertaking a Diploma in Palliative Care with Nairobi Hospice and Oxford Brookes University. We are also sponsoring students to complete a Higher Diploma in Palliative Care Nursing at Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), Nairobi Campus.
We work closely with the Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association (KEHPCA), which promotes the development of palliative care services in Kenya through advocacy, advice and training. We are supporting KEHPCA to strengthen the skills of 8 nurses as palliative care leaders, who will go on to champion palliative care and provide training to nurses and health workers in their localities. In 2022 we are supporting KEHPCA to develop resources on the role of palliative care in a range of health conditions in an effort to develop a minimum palliative care package for inclusion in Universal Health Coverage. We are also helping KEHPCA to conduct a palliative care needs assessment in Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya. The study will identify gaps in palliative care provision and plan a way forward to meet the needs of refugees who currently have no access to palliative care.
We are working with Hope For Cancer Kids to cover the cost of basic health insurance for children from disadvantaged families who have been diagnosed with cancer. This enables them to access curative cancer treatment, increasing their chances of survival. Their families will also benefit from workshops to support them with caring for their child and counselling.
We are working with Kendu Adventist Hospital to train 25 health staff in palliative care to increase awareness of the services and improve patient care and referrals in the west of Homa Bay county.
We are supporting Malindi Palliative Care Unit to develop their programme of community services including home visits to patients, support groups and to develop a new paediatric support group. We are also supporting Malindi PCU to sustainably develop palliative care in Kilifi County by supporting them to train Community Health Volunteers, community leaders, rural health workers and hospital health workers. Kilifi Palliative Care Unit is training and supporting nurses, community health volunteers and community leaders across the south of the county with our support.
We are supporting Nyahururu Hospice and Nakuru Hospice with the purchase of essential medicines and to provide home-based care to patients through home visiting.
Together with the James Tudor Foundation, we are supporting Maralal Palliative Care Unit in Samburu County to train 250 health workers and community health volunteers across the county.
Machakos Palliative Care Unit is training 20 community health volunteers and Taita Taveta Hospice is training 150 community health workers and volunteers with our support.
Funded with UK aid from the UK government, we are working in partnership with Ongata Ngong Palliative Community Care, Nairobi Hospice and Siaya Roselyne Hospice to improve the lives of people affected by cancer and life-limiting illness through the development of community-based palliative care in Siaya, Kajiado and Nairobi.