Palliative Care Education and Research Consortium

The Palliative Care Education and Research Consortium (PcERC) was established in 2017 by a group of professionals as part of the work of the Makerere/Mulago palliative care unit which has been in existence since 2008 to support the further development and access for palliative care. We work in conjunction with the Makerere/Mulago Palliative Care Unit (MMPCU) to deliver an integrated clinical service, carrying out research, advocacy, training, and capacity building in collaboration with partners.

Vision: Palliative care for all in Uganda and beyond.

Mission: We aim to operate a center of excellence that improves access to quality, evidence-based palliative care for patients and families in need through; delivering an integrated clinical service, carrying out research, advocacy, training, and capacity building in collaboration with partners.

Goal: To provide quality Palliative care for all in Uganda and beyond

Core Services for PcERC

Clinical Service Provision: We provide and scale-up an integrated clinical service to patients and families in the National referral hospitals of Mulago and Kirrudu

**Our services to patients and their families are holistic (providing physical, psychosocial, emotional, and spiritual support)**

Education and Training: We provide education, training, and capacity building for both Inservice and medical/nursing at all levels and we are a placement site for both national and international students.

**Participants and facilitators of the Health Professionals training at Mulago National Referral Hospital**

Advocacy: We enhance and promote academic and clinical credibility for palliative care

**Students of the ADPCN on a placement in the unit; our senior trainer/mentor promotes the use of approved MOH clinical guidelines**

Research: We work to expand the evidence base for palliative care practice by encouraging a research culture, and supporting and initiating research and dissemination.

**Our research presentations at the UCI-PCAU conference 2023**

Sustainability: We work to develop a well-resourced Palliative Care Unit, with the human resource capacity and infrastructure capable of sustainably supporting a Ugandan-led palliative care team and are involved in resource mobilization through fundraising, grants and continuously lobbying for positions within the government structure.

What makes our services so unique?

We offer integrated hospital-based palliative care services, including Mulago National Specialized Referral Hospital (MNSRH) and Kirrudu National Referral Hospital (KNRH), where 45% of the patients need palliative care (PC) We are a specialist unit that manages patients with complex needs but work with generalist PC practitioners (link nurses, Medical doctors, pharmacists, social workers, etc) and focus on empowering others using a novel link clinician or palliative care ambassador approach to scale up access to PC.

We also have a significant role in training, research, and advocacy for palliative care in Uganda and beyond working with national and international partners.

Statistics:

Since its inception in 2008, the organization has grown and expanded and has had several achievements in its strategic objectives including;

Caring for adults, children, and caregivers with more than 10,871 patients and over 21,742 people supported including carers and these include both cancer and non-cancer conditions like; sickle-cell, end-stage kidney, heart, neuro, lung conditions, and HIV/AIDS.
Training and mentorship in palliative care to more than 6,937 students both undergraduates and post-graduates from various universities like; Makerere, Islamic University In Uganda, Mulago School of Nursing and Midwifery, St. Augustine, PC initiators, as well as international Fellowship students.
We have published our work in 207 abstracts and 55 publications, supervised 3 Masters students, 1 PhD in progress in palliative care research, and presented at several conferences

PCAU is our umbrella organization, we are a member organization and we have had a long-standing cordial relationship with PCAU; We have had grant collaborations and opportunities, the opportunity to attend the bi-monthly update meetings and online updates on various PC topics, and they have offered us scholarships to attend the UCI-PCAU biennial conferences which has been an opportunity for us to share our work with the rest of the world.