Advancing research in palliative care.
Our Commitment to Research
A research unit was established with the main purpose of facilitating and supporting all research related to activities at Hospice Africa and to generate outstanding internationally recognised research. This has been partly realised through patient and family centred research over the past 20 years. We have been involved in a number of studies, both local and international leading to high quality publications.
Given the fact that palliative care is rapidly expanding all over Africa, there is need to create an evidence base which is tailored and is appropriate to the African setting. There is an increasing demand to explore effective education systems which can meet the palliative care demands in Africa. This has come at a time when there is a big void in the research infrastructure in many parts of Africa.
We have developed an all-inclusive research agenda to address patient needs and perspectives, staff needs and perspectives, frameworks and models of care, impact of education in palliative care and action/operational research.
Key Research Priorities
Some key study priorities we are now focusing on including search for collaborative partnerships include:
- Oral morphine – attitude of health care providers, impact of nurse prescribers, fears of patients and carers, impact of task shifting on morphine prescription among others.
- Financial cost/benefit analysis of palliative care programs and models in the African context.
- Description of changing palliative care trajectory of HIV/AIDS patients in the ARV era.
- Best methods for increasing access to palliative care.
- Quantifying quality of hospice and palliative care.
- Pain assessment in non-verbal patients, approaches and tools.
- Herbal remedies used in palliative care. Which ones are truly useful?
- Ways to improve access and effectiveness of palliative care Education in resource limited settings.
- E- Learning: Comparing the effectiveness of e-learning vs traditional classroom learning and exploration of possibility of e-learning for health care workers in Uganda
- Ethical challenges in providing palliative care in Uganda.
- Palliative needs of refugees in Uganda.
- Palliative care needs and pain management in non-cancer patients.
- Palliative care for Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis Therapy in Uganda.
Research Ethics
Over the years, there has been an increasing demand for protection and respect to human participants involved in research. Palliative care research has lagged behind in Africa in part due to lack of accredited Research and Ethics review committees with experience in reviewing and approving protocols in this area of medicine . Through a series of activities HAU established the Hospice Africa Uganda Research and Ethics Committee (HAUREC) which is housed at the main premises in Makindye. HAUREC is responsible for ethical approvals of all research protocols submitted to HAUREC as well as monitoring and evaluation of palliative care research in Uganda.
Recent Publications
International Prevention Research Institute (IPRI) and World Prevention Alliance
an experience with online examinations in Sub Saharan Africa
Get in Touch
If you would like to know more about our research program or would like to discuss research of your own, please get in touch. We’d love to hear form you.
