Palliative care in Botswana: current state and challenges to further development

Abstract

Several targets were identified that have persistently hampered efforts to advance palliative care in Botswana, including: infrastructural challenges such as access to pain medications, the strained size of the palliative care workforce, and a need for increased palliative care education and understanding. However, recent achievements in national strategy and policy offer promising avenues for moving past these historical barriers. With implementation of action plans already underway, Botswana may ultimately provide a model for successful palliative care implementation in continuing to strengthen palliative care services throughout the country.

Social and Health System Complexities Impacting on Decision-Making for Utilization of Oncology and Palliative Care in an African Context: A Qualitative Study

“…Many studies have uncovered obstacles to PC in an African context, such as too few health professionals with PC training and education; lack of training opportunities; poor knowledge of, and attitudes toward, PC; professionals and service-users' lack of awareness; inadequate opioids; lay meaning-making of cancer/care; and a lack of PC policies in most African countries. [4][5][6][7][8][9] The rising costs of chemotherapy, drug resistance, and insufficient radiotherapy machines are some of the recognized challenges of cancer care in poorly resourced countries. 10,11 In addition, patients with cancer experience not only physical problems but also cancer-related social difficulties that impact on their mental health and quality of life.…”

Desafios Para a Rede De Atenção Aos Cuidados Paliativos Na Percepção De Gestores De Saúde

“…No contexto africano, a Associação de Cuidados Paliativos Africanos (APCA) e o MS tem formado parcerias com as universidades, visando a formação de recursos humanos em CP. Em 2010, uma parceria com a Universidade de Botsuana, levou a uma introdução ao curso de CP para 22 professores dentro da Escola de Enfermagem e do Departamento de Serviço Social da Universidade, e atualmente, 90% das instituições de ensino superior do Botsuana encontram-se orientadas para os CP (18) .…”

Exploring health care providers’ perceptions about home-based palliative care in terminally ill cancer patients

“…Infrastructure for end-of-life care is one of the issues that needs to be resolved for providing home-based palliative care services in the community. LaVigne et al pointed out infrastructure is required including access to analgesic drugs, inclusion of palliative care in the educational curriculum of health personnel, and access to financial resources [19]. In addition to training qualified personnel and allocating resources for home-based palliative care services, health systems should investigate appropriate models and guidelines in accordance with the context and setting in which the services are provided.…”