Palliative Care Strategy for HIV and other diseases - FHI 360

8. links and partnerships
Since palliative care is holistic and addresses the whole spectrum of human needs, linkages
and referral relationships with a spectrum of different service providers are essential. In
general, services that offer palliative care or palliative care programs will need to develop
relationships with providers of legal support, and economic assistance; child welfare programs;
domestic violence protection programs; and services aiding people with substance
use issues. Some of these essential services include the following:
Children’s serviCes: ovC and palliative Care programs working
together
Children require special attention because of their unique development needs. OVC and
palliative care programs must work together to ensure that emotional, social, health, and
educational services are made available to children. Children require a safe and nurturing
environment for their wellbeing and survival. Palliative care services assure that the needs
of children are appropriately met, whether in the home of a patient, young patients, bereaved,
in vulnerable circumstances, or orphaned.
eConomiC support
A primary need among families affected by chronic illness is access to stable livelihoods.
While palliative care programs may not be designed to assist clients directly in employment
and other forms of sustained economic security, they need to be well linked with services
that do. There are excellent, specialized services worldwide that assist the poor in accessing
capital, developing marketable skills, and securing employment. A functional palliative
care program requires formal relationships with such organizations.
legal assistanCe
Legal issues may arise for people with life-threatening illness and their families. These can
include development of wills and other legal measures to protect property, future planning
and guardian appointment, end-of-life care, choosing when and how to die, protection
from violent family members, and access to controlled medicines. Palliative care programs
rarely contain all the legal expertise a client may need, so links with the services that do are
very important. A partnership with a legal aid organization can make a big difference to
some clients.
prevention programs
Many families impacted by HIV and other chronic disease are still not aware of how to
prevent infection or illness. Health education is part of palliative care but it must also link
with other providers of prevention programs and services such as malaria and TB prevention
and awareness, safe water, and hygiene initiatives.
ChroniC disease management
Health systems are moving to include PLHIV in chronic disease management. This is an
important approach for patients who have been successful in managing their disease pro-
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