Adopt vs. Adapt: Rethinking Palliative Care in Africa

Across Africa, culture, spirituality, family, and community influence how serious illness, suffering, and care are understood. This raises an important question: do we adopt existing palliative care models, or adapt them to the realities of the people we serve?

Our newly published paper, “Sociocultural Perspectives on Palliative Care Across East African Community Countries: A Narrative Review with Thematic Synthesis,” explores these realities across the region.

Featured in the Rwanda Public Health Bulletin (RPHB), Volume 7, Issue 2 (June 2026) by Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), the review brings four dimensions into focus:

🌍 Culture and community in shaping experiences of serious illness.
🙏 Spirituality and belief systems in care.
💬 Communication around illness, prognosis, and end of life.
💊 Access to pain relief and essential palliative care services.

Palliative care must make both clinical and cultural sense to the people it serves.

📖 Read our paper on pages 32–39: https://media.licdn.com/dms/document/media/v2/D4D1FAQHRPrp1e43BnA/feedshare-document-sanitized-pdf/B4DZ.8iJ.AJ8A8-/0/1785574500647?e=1787752800&v=beta&t=Go-7b2bWE7GhYLJrO016vu2TPAmIxfRcT1FpyvVP6Cw