Harriet Nabudere1, Ekwaro Obuku1, Mohammed Lamorde2. 1. Regional East African Community Health (REACH) Policy Initiative,Uganda and Supporting the Use of Research Evidence (SURE) for Policy in African Health Systems Project,College of Health Sciences,Makerere University,hnabudere@gmail.com. 2. Infectious Diseases Institute,Makerere University.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: This paper describes the development and findings for a policy brief on "Advancing the Integration of Palliative Care into the National Health System" and the subsequent use of this report. METHODS: Key stakeholders involved with palliative care helped identify the problem and potential policy solutions to scale up these services within the health system. A working group of national stakeholder representatives and external reviewers commented on and contributed to successive drafts of the report. Research describing the problem, policy options and implementation considerations was identified by reviewing government documents, routinely collected data, electronic literature searches, contact with key informants, and reviewing the reference lists of relevant documents that were retrieved. RESULTS: The palliative burden is not only high but increasing due to the rise in population and life expectancy. A few options for holistic, supportive care include: Home-based care increases chances of a peaceful death for the terminally ill surrounded by their loved ones; supporting informal caregivers improves their quality of life and discharge planning reduces unscheduled admissions and has the potential to free up capacity for acute care services. A combination of strategies is needed to effectively implement the proposed options as discussed further in this article. CONCLUSIONS: The policy brief report was used as a background document for two stakeholder dialogues whose main outcome was that a comprehensive national palliative care policy should be instituted to include all the options, which need to be integrated within the public health system. A draft policy is now in process.
OBJECTIVES: This paper describes the development and findings for a policy brief on "Advancing the Integration of Palliative Care into the National Health System" and the subsequent use of this report. METHODS: Key stakeholders involved with palliative care helped identify the problem and potential policy solutions to scale up these services within the health system. A working group of national stakeholder representatives and external reviewers commented on and contributed to successive drafts of the report. Research describing the problem, policy options and implementation considerations was identified by reviewing government documents, routinely collected data, electronic literature searches, contact with key informants, and reviewing the reference lists of relevant documents that were retrieved. RESULTS: The palliative burden is not only high but increasing due to the rise in population and life expectancy. A few options for holistic, supportive care include: Home-based care increases chances of a peaceful death for the terminally ill surrounded by their loved ones; supporting informal caregivers improves their quality of life and discharge planning reduces unscheduled admissions and has the potential to free up capacity for acute care services. A combination of strategies is needed to effectively implement the proposed options as discussed further in this article. CONCLUSIONS: The policy brief report was used as a background document for two stakeholder dialogues whose main outcome was that a comprehensive national palliative care policy should be instituted to include all the options, which need to be integrated within the public health system. A draft policy is now in process.
Authors: Sriram Yennurajalingam; Charles E Amos; John Weru; Edwina Beryl V N D Addo Opare-Lokko; Joseph Anthony Arthur; Kristy Nguyen; Olaitan Soyannwo; Runcie C W Chidebe; Janet L Williams; Zhanni Lu; Ellen Baker; Sanjeev Arora; Eduardo Bruera; Suresh Reddy Journal: J Glob Oncol Date: 2019-07
Authors: Ainur Kagarmanova; Mark Donald Mwesiga; Matthew L Sisk; Cynthia Kabagambe; Sheba Nyakaisiki; Tom Marentette; Lacey N Ahern Journal: BMC Palliat Care Date: 2022-04-22 Impact factor: 3.113