ehospice

Go sweet with Cupcakes 4 Kids with cancer

On 28 September 2024, the much-anticipated National Cupcake Day 4 Kids with Cancer will be taking place at 74 malls around the country. This annual event has taken place since 2012 to raise funds for Cupcakes of Hope – an NPC and PBO that supplies assistance and support to the families and children who are diagnosed with cancer. Around 2,500 bakers are expected to participate this year. “We have assisted more than 10,000 patients over the past 10 years,” says Sandy Cipriano, founder of Cupcakes of Hope. “My husband and I started to raise funds for children with cancer when
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Palliative care improves quality of life for children with cancer

CANSA TLC advocates for palliative care during childhood cancer awareness month “It couldn’t be farther from the truth that palliative care is only for those nearing the end of their lives,” says Anina Meiring, Service Manager: Childhood Cancer at the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA). With September being Childhood Cancer Month, CANSA is reinforcing how important palliative care is and how it can assist both children with cancer and their families and caregivers. “It’s more about ensuring that children and adolescents, live as well as possible for as long as possible than it’s about being the last resort,” added Meiring about palliative care
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The Profound Impact of My Global Partners in Care Internship in South Africa

by Ethan Harned For the last two and a half years, I have worked as an intern for Global Partners in Care (GPIC). Last year during my university break, I spent two months working with the Palliative Care Association of Uganda (PCAU). Building off of that experience and my work as an office intern with GPIC, I spent my break this year completing a field internship in South Africa. For the bulk of my time, I worked with Joan Marston and the team at Sunflower Children’s Hospice in Bloemfontein, South Africa. We collaborated on a project exploring how palliative care services
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Martelise Meaker Children’s In-Patient Unit opens its doors

Johannesburg South, Alberton – Martelise Meaker Children’s In-Patient Unit, a newly established in- patient unit, opened in Alberton on 26 July this year. With a focus on providing specialised care and support for young patients facing life-limiting illnesses, the organisation aims to offer compassionate, palliative and holistic care to children aged between 0 and 18 years, and their families. “We are excited to bring a distinct flagship to the Alberton community and in the Gauteng province and contribute to the growth and development of paediatric palliative care in South Africa. We are the fourth Hospice in-patient palliative children’s unit in
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Announcement of the 2025 South African Palliative Care Conference

On 1 August it was officially announced that the 2025 South African Palliative Care Conference will take place from 18 – 21 June in Durban, South Africa. Following the enormous success of the first collaborative conference that took place in Cape Town in 2023, once again, the conference will be presented as a collaborative venture between the three leading palliative care organisations in the country, being the Association of Palliative Care Practitioners of South Africa (PALPRAC), Palliative Care for Children South Africa (PatchSA) and the Association of Palliative Care Centres (APCC). The venue for this event is the Southern Sun
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There are worse things than death

When teaching the medical students, I always ask, “is it your job as the doctor, to make someone feel better?” Invariably they say that it is. But really? Is it? I believe my job is to help my patients face whatever they have to face while feeling safe and cared for. This often means discussing hard truths in the context of understanding their values and preferences about all things life and death. The desire to make patients feel better leads to sugar coating, half-truths and at worst to avoid the subject altogether ‘just in case they become upset’. There are days that
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Two new paediatric palliative care facilities for Gauteng

Last month, Palliative Care for Children South Africa (PatchSA’s) Sue Boucher and Tracy Rawlins spent a day with Tersia Burger and Lyn Croote, two inspiring visionaries who are expanding their existing services to offer more and better paediatric palliative care in Gauteng. They were joined by Mauriche van der Merwe, a bereaved parent from the area presently undertaking the Patch Academy 9-month course. The three were warmly welcomed and generously hosted for the morning by Tersia Burger, CEO of Stepping Stone Hospice, based in Alberton. They were shown around the in-patient facility, met with warm and caring members of the
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The NHI Bill, palliative care and a call for a systems lens

This article has been written by Dr Jodi Wishnia, CEO of Zazen Respite Care based in Johannesburg, Gauteng. There has been so much written about the recent signing into law of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill by President Ramaphosa. Perhaps the most palpable feeling is one of anxiety: that South Africa can’t afford this reform, about the timelines, and most notably, that access to quality healthcare will be further throttled. If you lift your head from the noise though, you will find that most reasonable people agree that our current inequitable health system cannot continue and that affordable access
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The life and death of Lirie van der Merwe

How an early palliative care referral could have changed things This post by Mauriche van der Merwe is written with raw honesty and describes the tenuous and precious life of her daughter, Lirie, and their experience through her unnecessarily traumatic end of life. Please be aware that it is a difficult read but it is a story that needs to be told. Mauriche wants Lirie’s story to be a strong motivation for healthcare professionals to understand the supportive role of palliative care from the time of a relevant diagnosis, and to refer accordingly. She also wants parents and carers to
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