Richmore Tera.
Harare , Zimbabwe. (News Of The South) – In what could be a defining moment for the local health sector, Palliative care is now gaining ground and recognition as an important branch of the field following the introduction of the Palliative Care Policy.
This comes after long years in which little was being said about the role that Palliative care can help in improving the quality of life of patients or people living with life-threatening illnesses like cancer, diabetes, among others.
Although Palliative care was first introduced in Zimbabwe in 1979, speaking of it today one can easily tell that most people are simply in the dark about it or are not aware that such a section of health exists.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognizes Palliative care as a part of health care services which helps in giving patients relief from symptoms, physical pain and mental stress.
According to WHO, Palliative care is as a “multi-disciplinary approach to specialized medical care for people with life-limiting illnesses. It focuses on providing people with relief from the symptoms, pain, physical stress, and mental stress of the mental diagnosis. The goal of such therapy is to improve quality of life for both the person and their family.”
It further says: “Palliative care is provided by a team of physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other health professionals who work together with the primary care physician and referred specialists (or, for patients who don’t have those, hospital or hospice staff) to provide an extra layer of support.”
In the absence of well-meaning and established health care facilities, Palliative care can be the route that patients, their families and relatives can opt for as a remedy from suffering.
In their article titled “The Island Hospice Model of Palliative Care” (July 7 2016), authors Thembelihle Khumalo and Valerie Maasdorp explain the advantages of Palliative care treatment and why Zimbabwe needs it.
“Zimbabwe has an urgent and massive need for palliative care services as documented by the WHO global palliative care study that identified 1 in 60 Zimbabweans in need of palliative care, and the recent UNICEF/ICPCN study that identified a significant need for palliative care among children in all ten provinces of Zimbabwe.
“In a pilot project initiated by WHO in 2004 in five African countries which included Zimbabwe, it was estimated that a total of 208 600 people were dying from HIV and AIDS or cancer annually in Zimbabwe, of whom 200 000 people were dying from HIV and AIDS and 8 600 from cancer.
“The proportion of people needing palliative care was estimated at 1 in 60. Those dying from HIV and AIDS or cancer and suffering pain were estimated at 56 900. The report noted that the number actually needing palliative care was much higher because it should also include those suffering from serious illnesses but not dying, as well as those suffering from other diseases other than cancer or HIV and AIDS…. This demand is compounded by the socioeconomic situation in the country which has resulted in social sectors, including health, all but collapsing.”
With such statistics on the ground, won’t it be hopeful for people living with life-threatening illnesses to know that in Palliative care, they can get the quality of life they have been seeking?
Palliative care is cost-effective, can be applied in various settings, which can be hospitals, nursing facilities or at home, with the last mentioned serving to cut on accommodation and other related costs since the care will be dispensed from home.
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It is with this desire to spread awareness on Palliative care among people, that workshops on the practice are being held.
Recently, a total of 23 health professionals from both the public and private health sectors including members of the clergy received certificates in Palliative Care after completing a training workshop which was conducted by Island Hospice at Chitungwiza Central Hospital and Young Africa Skills Centre.
The five-day workshop was conducted by Island Hospice and it also saw members of the clergy and others drawn from non-Governmental organisations taking part.
According to the facilitators, the Train the Trainer workshop was aimed at equipping nurses, social workers, church leaders and other home-care givers with advanced training in Palliative Care as a way of offering better and advanced services in their various fields.
The sole aim of the workshop, according to Busi Mashiri, who is a nurse and Palliative Care trainer from Island Hospice, was to train more trainers in the field of Palliative Care.
“The reason why we are conducting TOTs (train the trainers) workshops is because we want to decentralize the training in Palliative Care from being held at Island Hospice alone to other areas. Since we can’t train everyone at the same time, Island Hospice decided to hold workshops and this is the reason why we are training trainers so that they can go out there and train others,” she explained to the participants during the workshop.
One of the participants, Pauline Gambanga who is a Nursing Tutor at Chitungwiza Central Hospital, said she benefitted a lot from the workshop and further explained that they were going to implement the knowledge into their training programme at the hospital.
“We are now in better position to teach students on the principles of Palliative care, thanks to this workshop that has amassed us with new techniques and skills in the subject.
“Island Hospice, who facilitated this workshop, have been training at our hospital for only a short period of time but now are able to do it ourselves because of the Training of the Trainer workshop which they conducted for us,” she said.
Canaan Machando, who was part of the clergy, said: “We would like to thank Island Hospice for training us for free in a programme that could have cost the church money of up to $1 000.”
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