Providing Dignified Palliative Care Services in Liberia

Background: Liberia faces a critical shortage of palliative care services, particularly for persons with advanced-stage HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, diabetes, and cancers. Access to healthcare services is especially limited in rural areas, along with a lack of supportive social and economic resources. Ho...

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Autores principales:	Sonpon Blamo Sieh, Chinnie Vicky Miller Sieh, James Desmond, Catherine Machalaba
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Ubiquity Press 2019
Materias:	Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/4f5cfaed33b74115821833b292b0c2d0
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:4f5cfaed33b74115821833b292b0c2d02021-12-02T09:44:32ZProviding Dignified Palliative Care Services in Liberia2214-999610.5334/aogh.2590https://doaj.org/article/4f5cfaed33b74115821833b292b0c2d02019-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/2590https://doaj.org/toc/2214-9996Background: Liberia faces a critical shortage of palliative care services, particularly for persons with advanced-stage HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, diabetes, and cancers. Access to healthcare services is especially limited in rural areas, along with a lack of supportive social and economic resources. Home of Dignity (HoD) Health Center was established in 2013 in Yarbah’s Town to fill a last-option palliative care gap. The mission emphasizes patient wellbeing and worth. HoD integrates health, agriculture, and education on-site for immediate medical needs, broader sustainable development, and reducing disease-associated stigma in local communities. Objective: We aimed to describe the Center’s integrated approach and conduct a descriptive analysis of the HoD patient population. Methods: We reviewed patient characteristics (sex, age distribution, mobility status, and CD4 count on arrival) and outcomes (survival rate and community reintegration) for patients with HIV seeking care at the Center between 2013–2017. Findings: Of 182 patients (ages 3 months–50 years), over half arrived to the facility bedridden and over 82% had CD4 counts between <100–350. Of the 182 patients, 66% survived, 27% died, and 7% were lost to follow-up. Of surviving patients, 90% were successfully reintegrated into their communities. The clinic also served over 365 chronically ill patients that had been rejected by other health providers during the 2014–2015 Ebola outbreak. Conclusions: The Center is providing last-option palliative care services in the country. As a trusted healthcare center, patients also seek care for acute conditions, resulting in unanticipated resource demands. HoD’s experience underscores the need for development of training programs for medical professionals, supply chains, community outreach, and resourcing channels to ensure adequate and sustainable service provision for hospice and palliative care services and reduce stigma in the country. There is an urgent need to invest in holistic palliative and overall healthcare services in Liberia.Sonpon Blamo SiehChinnie Vicky Miller SiehJames DesmondCatherine MachalabaUbiquity PressarticleInfectious and parasitic diseasesRC109-216Public aspects of medicineRA1-1270ENAnnals of Global Health, Vol 85, Iss 1 (2019)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
spellingShingle	Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Sonpon Blamo Sieh Chinnie Vicky Miller Sieh James Desmond Catherine Machalaba Providing Dignified Palliative Care Services in Liberia
description	Background: Liberia faces a critical shortage of palliative care services, particularly for persons with advanced-stage HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, diabetes, and cancers. Access to healthcare services is especially limited in rural areas, along with a lack of supportive social and economic resources. Home of Dignity (HoD) Health Center was established in 2013 in Yarbah’s Town to fill a last-option palliative care gap. The mission emphasizes patient wellbeing and worth. HoD integrates health, agriculture, and education on-site for immediate medical needs, broader sustainable development, and reducing disease-associated stigma in local communities. Objective: We aimed to describe the Center’s integrated approach and conduct a descriptive analysis of the HoD patient population. Methods: We reviewed patient characteristics (sex, age distribution, mobility status, and CD4 count on arrival) and outcomes (survival rate and community reintegration) for patients with HIV seeking care at the Center between 2013–2017. Findings: Of 182 patients (ages 3 months–50 years), over half arrived to the facility bedridden and over 82% had CD4 counts between <100–350. Of the 182 patients, 66% survived, 27% died, and 7% were lost to follow-up. Of surviving patients, 90% were successfully reintegrated into their communities. The clinic also served over 365 chronically ill patients that had been rejected by other health providers during the 2014–2015 Ebola outbreak. Conclusions: The Center is providing last-option palliative care services in the country. As a trusted healthcare center, patients also seek care for acute conditions, resulting in unanticipated resource demands. HoD’s experience underscores the need for development of training programs for medical professionals, supply chains, community outreach, and resourcing channels to ensure adequate and sustainable service provision for hospice and palliative care services and reduce stigma in the country. There is an urgent need to invest in holistic palliative and overall healthcare services in Liberia.
format	article
author	Sonpon Blamo Sieh Chinnie Vicky Miller Sieh James Desmond Catherine Machalaba
author_facet	Sonpon Blamo Sieh Chinnie Vicky Miller Sieh James Desmond Catherine Machalaba
author_sort	Sonpon Blamo Sieh
title	Providing Dignified Palliative Care Services in Liberia
title_short	Providing Dignified Palliative Care Services in Liberia
title_full	Providing Dignified Palliative Care Services in Liberia
title_fullStr	Providing Dignified Palliative Care Services in Liberia
title_full_unstemmed	Providing Dignified Palliative Care Services in Liberia
title_sort	providing dignified palliative care services in liberia
publisher	Ubiquity Press
publishDate	2019
url	https://doaj.org/article/4f5cfaed33b74115821833b292b0c2d0
work_keys_str_mv	AT sonponblamosieh providingdignifiedpalliativecareservicesinliberia AT chinnievickymillersieh providingdignifiedpalliativecareservicesinliberia AT jamesdesmond providingdignifiedpalliativecareservicesinliberia AT catherinemachalaba providingdignifiedpalliativecareservicesinliberia
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Providing Dignified Palliative Care Services in Liberia

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