Expanding the Team

Ilembula Palliative Care team has had an increase in its staff. I know that this news could be outdated, but we have Dr Zedekiah Njogela aboard the team. He is an Assistant Medical Officer who has recieved training both in palliative care and in use of morphine in treatment of severe pain. We believe that with him in the team we shall be able to provide even better care to our patients in palliative care.

Volunteers!

Refresher course for volunteers...

During a home visit...

On the way to visit a bedridden patient...

Ilembula palliative care covers a large catchment area,covering four administrative wards: Ilembula, Luduga , Wanging'ombe and Usuka. These wards are administrative units containing each containing several villages,-a total of 36 villages. In these villages we have a total of 1986 registered patients. Logistically it would be a nightmare for a small team such as ours to be able to monitor these patients. Occassionally we get bedridden patients and times the financial situation is so poor that the relatives are unable to communicate with or get their patients to medical care. Monitoring of these patients is made possible through the selfless work done by the community based volunteers numbering 53. These are selected by the members of the community and religious leaders. They have recieved training on how to detect seriously ill patients. They are also taught simple maedical tasks such as dressing of wounds. They also help in follow-up of patient treatment and may give health education. In case of bed ridden patients the volunteers communicate with the team, who in turn do a home visit and where necessary plan patient transport to hospital for more specialised care.

The volunteer recieve refresher courses regularly,to keep them up to date with changes in patient care. Through the work of the volunteer the logistical nightmare is almost over...we recognize and appreciate their efforts.

Volunteers!

Refresher course for volunteers...

During a home visit...

On the way to visit a bedridden patient...

Ilembula palliative care covers a large catchment area,covering four administrative wards: Ilembula, Luduga , Wanging'ombe and Usuka. These wards are administrative units containing each containing several villages,-a total of 36 villages. In these villages we have a total of 1986 registered patients. Logistically it would be a nightmare for a small team such as ours to be able to monitor these patients. Occassionally we get bedridden patients and times the financial situation is so poor that the relatives are unable to communicate with or get their patients to medical care. Monitoring of these patients is made possible through the selfless work done by the community based volunteers numbering 53. These are selected by the members of the community and religious leaders. They have recieved training on how to detect seriously ill patients. They are also taught simple maedical tasks such as dressing of wounds. They also help in follow-up of patient treatment and may give health education. In case of bed ridden patients the volunteers communicate with the team, who in turn do a home visit and where necessary plan patient transport to hospital for more specialised care.

The volunteer recieve refresher courses regularly,to keep them up to date with changes in patient care. Through the work of the volunteer the logistical nightmare is almost over...we recognize and appreciate their efforts.