An article published in UK newspaper, The Guardian, this week highlights a number of examples of public health initiatives from around the world.
The article’s author, Andrew Furber, comments: “Whether it is the role of leaders, the empowering of local communities, the place for legislation or an innovative workforce, there is much we can learn from around the world to improve the health of the public back home.”
The article also refers to research by Lord Nigel Crisp, published in the book: Turning the world upside down – the search for global health in the 21st Century. The book outlines examples of what richer countries can learn about health from low and middle income countries, where limited resources can lead to innovative ideas.
Palliative care is one of the fields where constraints in resources and recognition have led to many innovations in public health and social care. The Global Atlas for Palliative Care at the End of Life explores a handful of these examples.
One such example is the “community-owned” programme in Kerala, India, where volunteers from the local community are trained to identify problems of the chronically ill in their area and to intervene effectively, with active support from a network of trained professionals.
Another example of how palliative care is leading the way in health and social care innovation is in Tanzania. The goal of the Continuum of Care for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Tanzania (CHAT) project is to enhance the continuum of care for people living with HIV/AIDS and their families by scaling up palliative care capacity and linking with existing Lutheran hospitals and church congregations throughout Tanzania.
You can read more about these examples, and others, in the Global Atals, available on the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance (WPCA) website.
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