Home based care
It is not practical for patients living with palliative care needs to remain in hospitals due to the long term nature of the illness. Nairobi Hospice therefore seeks to save the families unnecessary bills by making it easier for these patients to be nursed at home using available resources.It is from this understanding that Nairobi Hospice conducts affordable home visits to these patients and has done so for the last 30 years.
Meet our Caregivers
One of our most basic care for our patients is carried at their home, as this allows the patient to be in familiar and comfortable surroundings. Family members serve as the primary caregivers, while our nurses oversee medical needs. We offer help to families with counseling, respite care, and practical support.
Conditions requiring Palliative Care
These diagnoses are not limited to cancer. They include -All irreversible organ failures e.g chronic kidney failure, advanced heart failure, chronic obstructive airway disease, Interstitial lung disease, Cerebral Vascular Accident (Stroke), Hypoxic brain damage, cerebral palsy, liver failure, amnesia and HIV/AIDs. Palliative care targets life limiting illnesses which though they have no known cure have well researched management regimen which improves the patient's quality of life and supports the family to cope. Thus our motto, “put life into their days, not just days into their life”
Our Services
PHYSICAL CARE
Pain control and other distressing symptoms common in advanced disease either on outpatient basis or at patient’s home is done by an able medical team of palliative care specialist doctors and nurses.
PSYCHOLOGICAL CARE
Trained psychotherapist and counsellor offer this service to the patients. Counselling services are extended to the family. Use of modern approach like Art therapy is used to help patients cope.
SOCIAL CARE
Family support geared towards empowering families to take care of the patient is done. Care-giver training and support is key. Bereavement support to the family is offered through one on one care and group therapy sessions. Day care services held every Thursday target peer support, patient education and an opportunity for well-wishers to meet the patients for any form of support.
SPIRITUAL CARE
Prayers and religious rituals are encouraged. Chaplaincy services are also offered during group meetings.
FAQs
WHO defines Quality of life as -an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concern. It is a broad ranging concept affected in a complex way by the person’s physical health, psychological state, personal beliefs, social relationships and their relationship to their environment.
Bereavement is the objective situation one faces after having lost an important person via death. Bereavement support helps the bereaved to cope with the loss.Bereavement is known to cause physical and psychological trauma if not handled well hence a need to support the bereaved.
Palliative care Supports patients and Families and focuses on life and it’s best possible quality at any point of the disease trajectory.It also focuses on the family and care givers needs.
End of life care describes care given when death is eminent and patient’s symptoms point to a short number of days or hours.
This describes care provided during the period when death is imminent, and life expectancy is limited to a short number of hours or days.The term has been used to describe the last 12 months of life. It includes physical, emotional, social, and spiritual support for patients and their families. The goal is to control pain and other symptoms so the patient can be as comfortable as possible.
End of life is the final common pathway of many progressive illnesses with irreversible decline in functional status before death; it may occur over days or weeks.
A terminal condition is a progressive condition that has no cure and that can be reasonably expected to cause death of a person within a foreseeable future.
In the Kenyan context, hospice is a community focused institution that provides care to persons living with palliative care needs at the community level including home based care.
A palliative care unit is housed within a health facility and provides both inpatient and outpatient palliative services.
Patients Living with Palliative Care Needs (PLWPCN) i.e patients with a definite diagnosis that threatens their lives.This includes their family members and caregivers.(Adults and Children)
Palliative care should commence from diagnosis and throughout the trajectory of the illness including bereavement care.