Palliative care centre to open soon
Palliative Care Namibia, under the auspices of the Cancer Association of Namibia (CAN) will open in March after two years of intensive planning, construction work and the support and advice of the interdisciplinary care team.Palliative Care aims to alleviate the result of an illness when there is no longer any chance of recovery.
As the Cancer Association explains: “Palliative care is the entire plan of care, with the support of the patient and family, from the time of a diagnosis of an incurable or serious life-limiting illness. It’s about bringing together an interdisciplinary team to find the best possible care plan that includes the medical, social, spiritual and pain management components to support the patient.”
Comprehensive palliative care also means that “overtreatment” is avoided, that quality of life remains the primary goal and that, when hospice care begins, the entire interdisciplinary team and family know what role they must take on for the benefit of the patient.
“CAN and our Palliative Care Namibia program are proud that our team members have been trained and qualified at the University of Cape Town and the Groote Schuur Hospital there as part of their specialist palliative care program. We are proud to be able to bring world-class care to Namibia for Namibia,” CAN said.