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Developing a palliative care service for children in the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi
Elizabeth M Molyneux1, Vicky Lavy, Mary Bunn
1The Paediatric Department, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi. emmolyneux@gmail.com
Insights
Resource-poor countries lack pediatric palliative care. A hospital-based service in Africa, established in 2002, addressed this gap, improving care for children with life-limiting illnesses and their families.
Area of Science:
- Global Health
- Palliative Care
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Limited pediatric palliative care services exist in resource-poor settings.
- Healthcare providers are often overwhelmed by acute illnesses, neglecting children with chronic, life-limiting conditions.
- The HIV epidemic highlighted significant unmet needs for specialized pediatric care in Southern Africa.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the development and expansion of Africa's first hospital-based pediatric palliative care service.
- To evaluate the impact of this service on healthcare staff, children, and their families.
- To provide a model for establishing similar services in resource-limited environments.
Main Methods:
- Establishment of a dedicated hospital-based pediatric palliative care service in 2002.
- Longitudinal observation of service development, expansion, and operational changes.
- Qualitative and quantitative assessment of the service's impact on stakeholders.
Main Results:
- The service successfully developed and expanded over several years.
- Significant positive effects were observed on the well-being of children and their families.
- Healthcare staff experienced professional growth and improved job satisfaction.
Conclusions:
- Hospital-based pediatric palliative care services are feasible and impactful in resource-poor settings.
- Such services can effectively address the needs of children with life-limiting illnesses.
- The model developed offers valuable insights for global implementation of pediatric palliative care.
Abstract:
There are too few palliative care services for children in resource poor countries. Health carers are overwhelmed with cases of acute illness that need their urgent attention, and chronically ill children with life-limiting diseases have been sidelined. The HIV epidemic in southern Africa revealed the huge needs in our own hospital, and in 2002, we started a hospital-based paediatric palliative care service. It was the first in Africa. We describe here how it developed and expanded in the ensuing years and how it has affected our staff, the children and their families in our care.
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