Providing Palliative Care in Kenya

Jambo Palliative Care Supporters!

Best wishes for the New Year and thank you for supporting our efforts in Kenya. There were significant accomplishments in 2023 and we are looking for expanding our activities in in 2024.

The Clinical Officers working on their Higher Diploma in Palliative Care did very well in their first semester exams. They continue splitting their days with hospital rounds in the morning and active learning and didactic lectures in the afternoon. Dr. Hussein Elias and other members of the faculty in the Department of Family Medicine in Eldoret are doing the bulk of teaching, and I chip in frequently with virtual meetings from the US. I am looking forward to April when I will visit Eldoret and help in administering the year end clinical exams. Dr. Clarissa Johnston from Dell Medical School will also be visiting in April, and we will have trainees from Dell and Brown University on the ground.

Our plans for this year are to expand our Telehospice work to assist cancer patients in rural areas who lack access to hospice care. We are continuing to provide clinical care to inpatients in Eldoret and will complete the third year of our monthly Palliative Care ECHO. The ECHO program is a virtual program that combines education on important palliative care topics and a case presentation and discussion from clinicians throughout Kenya. A new goal will be an ECHO program focused on pediatric palliative care. We will also be following community health volunteers providing symptom assessment and education to patients with sickle cell anemia.

So, a lot on tap for 2024. Your continued support is both needed and greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

Ken