The Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association (KEHPCA) jointly with The Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA) created an innovative, budget-friendly model to expand the delivery of quality palliative care services to patients in Kenya. The project utilizes a simple, inclusive yet very concrete approach dubbed “Hi 5″.
The innovative education and advocacy palliative care program is based on training 5 key health care providers using the KEHPCA online learning platform. Those five trainees then mentor 5 of their colleagues. In turn, at each level of the project the persons participating commit to the provision of direct care to 5 patients and families living with palliative care needs, thus exponentially expanding the level of quality care and the lives of patients and caregivers “touched”.
Providing necessary training, based on science, and providing support for programmatic development is an effective way to ensure sustainable improvement of quality healthcare in Kenya and enhancing quality of life sustainably.
The project demonstrated success in the first phase when the 70 initial trainees completed a self-paced six-module online introductory course to palliative care as well as the practicum requirement of the course despite the busy schedules at their work places. A successful graduation ceremony was held in Kisumu, an event that brought together county health leaderships from the 5 implementing counties: Kisumu, Kisii, Trans Nzoia, Homabay and Vihiga, as well as the health pillar lead at the Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB) secretariat.
The project further trained 14 Palliative Care trainers of trainers (TOTs) and additional 30 health care workers on the online introductory course to palliative care during the costed extension that ended in August 2025. The trainees have recently concluded the mentorship phase, where they not only imparted the knowledge acquired during their training to 5 health care workers from different cadres, but also impacted on patient management by providing care to at least 5 patients with palliative care needs and their families.
The monitoring visits held at the health facilities from which the healthcare providers were drawn demonstrated a heightened need for knowledge on palliative care, with some staff asking for opportunities for further advanced training, including master’s-level opportunities. It is also worthy to note that at least 5 sub-county facilities have taken a keen interest in establishing palliative care coordination units within their premises. The project has been impactful, and its replication in other regions within the country can have a greater impact.
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