Providing Palliative Care in Kenya

Habari! 

Welcome to our second report for the Providing Palliative Care in Kenya project. This is a partnership between the dedicated palliative care physicians, clinical officers, nurses and social workers in Eldoret Kenya and the Indiana Institute for Global Health.

The team got a big boost recently when the team’s medical officer Dr. Korir was moved from a part-time position to full time! She is a wonderful asset to the team and is an amazingly gifted and carrying physician.

The team’s effort to increase education around pain management has been showing steady progress. They have seen a continued growth of new patients. On my most recent visit in April, I was encouraged to see the number of inpatient nurses who sought out team member to report patient symptoms and seek advice on management. Monitoring pain in hospitalized patients is a new concept in Kenya but the team is helping make pain assessment the 5^th vital sign!

We also received good news on our effort to develop innovated ways to provide home hospice to cancer patients living in remote areas. Home hospice services are rare in Kenya. The team was awarded a small pilot grant from Indiana University Global Health program to evaluate telecommunication monitoring of 30 patients who are hospice eligible. We will monitor symptoms through weekly telephone calls along with access to a 24-hour palliative care hotline. In addition, patients will be given a number of medications commonly used in hospice patients so that when they call treatment options will be available at home. Our goal is to improve end-of-life care for the patient and provide support for their family.

So what are our goals? The program needs assistance in maintaining the current level of services such as phone expenses for the 24-hour hotline and a monthly support group for hospitalized patients and their family. The baseline budget for the program is $2000 per year. Where additional funds will be directed are towards three specific projects. We are hoping to raise an additional $600 to develop a series of support groups and support their activities for 1 year. Two of the groups will be directed at breast cancer and cervical cancer patients; both of these cancers strike Kenyan women at a much younger age than women in developed countries. Many of these woman have young children at home and peer-group support is a key need in helping them cope with the heartbreaking psychosocial issues they face. The third support group will be for patients with a colostomy. Colostomies in Kenya were relatively uncommon until recently and carry with them certain stigma, particularly for young patients. The palliative care team is the major supplier of colostomy bags to the MTRH hospital and clinics and provides counseling. Nevertheless, peer group support is clearly needed to allow patients to share their experiences and move forward. We are also hoping to raise $2000 to bring Dr. Korir to the US for additional palliative care training. There are no formalized palliative care programs in Kenya, and training at Indiana University will be an important complement to the hard work she has done through online courses and on-the-job training at MTRH.

As always, thank you for your financial and moral support!

Sincerely

Ken Cornetta and the Palliative Care Team