Rural Hospice in Kenya Provides Compassionate Palliative Care to Hundreds Each Year

Kenya is 1 of 9 sub-Saharan African countries with a population of more than 39 000 000 and a life expectancy of 58 years (Centers for Disease Control, 2011). Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, lower respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis, malaria, and cancer are common causes of death in Kenya. To assist in meeting the needs of those with serious, life-threatening illnesses, 32 hospices and palliative care facilities have been built throughout Kenya to support patients and families (Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association, 2013). In Chebaiywa Village, located in Western Kenya, the 26-bed Kimbilio Hospice (Kiswahili for “refuge”) was built in 2011 to assist the most vulnerable in the area. The purpose of this article is to describe how Kimbilio Hospice started, the impact it has in the community, and how it works with local and national hospitals and organizations to improve care throughout Kenya.

Environmental health · Family medicine · Hospice care · Kenya · Life expectancy · Malaria · Palliative care · Political science · Population · Medicine · Nursing · Religion, Society, and Development

• Strategies used to establish palliative care in rural low- and middle-income countries

  Open Access•Atsede Aregay, Atsede Fantahun Aregay et al.•Health Policy and Planning•2020

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