Providing Palliative Care in Kenya

Jambo Palliative Care Supporters!

Hope you are well.

I recently returned from Eldoret, and it was great to work alongside Dr. Hussein Elias who leads our efforts in Kenya. The major news is the University Senate has approved our curriculum for physicians wishing to become specialists in palliative medicine. It will be the first program to provide palliative medicine board certification in Kenya. Applications are now being accepted for the fellowship.

While I was in Kenya, Dr. Elias and I provided several educational activities to learners at the Moi University School of Medicine. One of the liveliest sessions was teaching communication skills to medical students using role play exercises. Some students are selected to play the role of patients while others are the physician breaking bad news. It does bring home to students that they will soon be in the physician role. Their thoughtfulness in grappling with this challenging aspect of medicine is always interesting and encouraging to observe.   

Regarding our research efforts, our study on the impact of training community health promoters to provide sickle cell care has completed the data analysis phase and the manuscript should be finalized in the next few weeks.  The findings highlight a significant diversity in sickle cell knowledge among community health promoters, and the training show a positive impact on sickle cell care in remote areas of Kenya.

Finally, I want to thank you for your continued support. Recent events in the US have impacted all of us who have built important bridges with our Kenyan colleagues. The changes have made our clinical care, education, and research efforts more challenging. We rely on your support more than ever, and we continue to be exceedingly grateful.

Thank you,

Ken