Palliative care fact sheets

This informative factsheet was drafted by the African Palliative Care Association and the Palliative Care Association of Uganda to provide information on palliative care.

Palliative care is the service that is provided to improve the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness.

It is provided through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification, thorough assessment and treatment of pain and other complications including; physical, economic, psychosocial and spiritual.

Palliative care is applicable early in the course of an illness, in conjunction with other therapies that are intended to prolong life, such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy or Antiretroviral Treatment (ART). It includes investigations needed to better understand and manage distressing clinical complications, starting from the time of diagnosis of a life-limiting illness such as cancer, HIV and others, throughout treatment, and extending into endoflife care and bereavement support for the family.

It also focuses on informed decision-making, and coordinated services across the continuum of care; that is, communication, information sharing, patient preferences, advanced-care planning, bereavement care, ethical principles related to hastening death and peace and dignity for the patient, the family and other care providers.

Please click here for further information on palliative care and its principles.

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