Hospice Africa Uganda (HAU) will increase our caseload, adding 140 patients with late-stage cancer, HIV/AIDS and/or other conditions causing serious health-related suffering. These patients are too debilitated to leave their homes for health care. We provide home-based hospice and palliative care, supporting them and their families/caregivers through their terminal illness. We bring treatment that greatly reduces pain and symptoms and provide counselling for patients and families.
As the burden of chronic and life-limiting illnesses increases globally, so does the need for Hospice and Palliative Care (HPC) for pain, symptom management and management of socio-economic distresses. Globally, 56.8 million people need HPC annually. The greatest need is in low-and middle-income countries. Approximately only 6,900 of 497, 000 Ugandans in need of HPC receive the services. A significant proportion of these patients lie helpless at home with substantial health-related suffering.
This project will provide home-based care for 140 late-stage cancer patients who are homebound and cannot benefit from facility-based healthcare. A palliative care clinician will visit patients regularly, treat pain and other symptoms, and provide medicine, counselling and hope. Families will be guided on caring for patients at home, including at the time of death. This project will improve the quality of life for patients and families and expand HAU's ability to respond to the vast unmet need.
The project will increase HAU's ability to sustain home-based hospice and palliative care while helping spread understanding and support for this care. Treatment will reduce symptom burden and enable patients & their families to have peace during the terminal illness. Families will further experience reduced health expenditure and improved quality of life. With reduced patient suffering, some caretakers will resume gainful employment, improving the welfare of the patient, family and community.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
