By Ethan Harned
In 2011, the African Palliative Care Association and Global Partners in Care partnered to provide education scholarships to health providers seeking to deepen their knowledge and skills in providing palliative care. Since then, it has grown rapidly. The African Palliative Care Education Scholarship Fund has granted 85 scholarships to recipients in 16 countries. The scholarships have supported nurses and social workers at the diploma, certificate, bachelor’s and master’s levels.
Recently, we sat down with two scholarship recipients who graduated and are working in palliative care, Viola Ederu (Uganda) and Harriet Nakiganda (Uganda). They shared their stories, why they chose to enter palliative care and how they hope to continue using their skillsets throughout their careers.
Viola Ederu
Violet Ederu received the African Palliative Care Education Scholarship in 2022. She used the scholarship to pursue a Bachelor of Nursing from Victoria University, Kampala. Ederu applied for the African Palliative Care Education Scholarship after recognizing a lack of true pain management in her community.
“I used to think pain was something that was just tolerated. Through palliative care, I have pushed myself to ask deeper questions about someone’s pain. Now, I have the skills to address their pain holistically.”
After graduating, she returned to her home community to provide care there. She currently works as a nurse at Yumbe Regional Referral Hospital in the West Nile region of Uganda.
Harriet Nakiganda
Harriet Nakiganda received the African Palliative Care Scholarship in 2021. She used the scholarship to pursue a Master of Science in Palliative Care from Makerere University and the Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care in Africa. Nakiganda was already working in palliative care, doing social work at the time. Through this experience, she developed a deep love of caring for those with chronic illnesses. She also recognized the value of palliative care training in caring for all patients and communities she would encounter.
“Caring for a person is not limited to that patient. It extends to their entire community. Training in palliative care provided me with more knowledge to be in a better position to stand with and support all people within the community.”
Nakiganda is currently working for the Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care in Africa at Hospice Africa Uganda to train other health professionals in palliative care and conduct research.
Supporting Innovation in Palliative Care
In engaging with the African Palliative Care Association and their respective training programs, both Ederu and Nakiganda described the impact of training in research. With calls to action for increased evidence in community-based context-specific palliative care models coming from the WISH Report and the increasing need for palliative care services, it is more important than ever for palliative care providers further evidence for palliative care in their communities.
Having been raised in the West Nile region, Ederu researched the knowledge and perceptions of health workers about palliative care in the hospital where she worked. She shared that this was important in recognizing the barriers preventing palliative care referrals from her colleagues. In the future, she hopes to continue her work in research to understand best care practices and barriers to care for refugees in West Nile region of Uganda.
Leveraging her existing background in social work, Nakiganda set out to research the needs of caregivers providing support to loved ones in the home. After researching these needs, she designed a course for home-based caregivers. Moving forward, she hopes to continue researching best practices for supporting caregivers to develop additional resources that ease the burdens on this population.
Looking to the future
In their careers, both Ederu and Nakiganda plan to continue advancing their skills and growing in their abilities to provide high-quality palliative care. Ederu views pursuing a Master of Science in Palliative Care as the next step in her career. She envisions building her knowledge so she can continue developing evidence for palliative care in the West Nile region of Uganda. Furthermore, she hopes to begin training other nurses in palliative care after her specialization.
Nakiganda is excited to see how her career continues to advance. Using her knowledge in research and training, she has seen herself advocating more for her patients and colleagues. She knows this advocacy will continue and hopes to use it to inform future research, training resources and health system development.
Impact
Both Ederu and Nakiganda shared about the profound short and long-term impacts of their African Palliative Care Education Scholarships. When discussing her experiences with the program, Ederu shared, “I am very grateful for this opportunity, as it did not just end with the scholarship. I have become inspired to continue working and learning in palliative care, so I can continue working with my colleagues to address the needs of our communities.
Furthering this, Nakiganda shared about how this opportunity has shaped her career, “It helped to build my capacity as an individual. In research, bereavement and clinical skills, I am better equipped to do my job and teach others. My training and interactions with colleagues and peers increased my skills in teamwork and collaboration, not just with those in Uganda but across Africa.”
The African Palliative Care Education Scholarship Fund is one step towards meeting the increasing global need for palliative care services. By training health workers in palliative care and providing them with the skillset to innovate and develop evidence for care in their communities, this collaborative initiative addresses the need for palliative care at multiple levels. Through this, the African Palliative Care Association and Global Partners in Care are not only expanding access to palliative care services but also training future health system leaders that can meet the evolving needs of our world.
