Palliative care in a rural subdistrict in South Africa: A 4-year critical review

Abstract

Background: Palliative care (PC) is a priority in South Africa, focussing on integrating PC into primary health care. Few examples exist showing how this is done. In 2018, a rural PC project was implemented, which subsequently evolved into an integrated service between the hospital and the community.

Aim: The aim was to review the PC project over 4 years.

Setting: The setting was the George subdistrict of the Garden Route district in South Africa. Community-based services were offered to all patients with PC needs by three non-governmental organisations who deliver home community-based care via community health workers. They were supplemented by primary health care clinics, an intermediate care facility and two hospitals.

Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study. Inpatient ward round data and patient referrals between 2018 and 2022 were analysed using descriptive statistics. Variables included patient demographics, diagnosis, home visits and place of death.

Results: A total of 819 patients were referred. Inpatients were reviewed on weekly ward rounds by a multidisciplinary team. The most common diagnosis was cancer (57%). Home visits enabled patient follow-ups, of which 152 were recorded.

Conclusion: The programme has become sustainable and integrated in the public healthcare system. Contributing factors included dedicated staff, using simple tools and continuous training. The findings may be useful to PC programmes in similar contexts elsewhere.

Contribution: This work adds new knowledge to the field of PC in an underresourced rural healthcare environment in sub-Saharan Africa, by describing how system-wide integration of a new service was navigated to become sustainable.