Palliative care is crucial to those at the end of life, and HospiceWits is dedicated to providing the highest level of service to the communities in and around Johannesburg and Soweto. Carers and service workers are always ready to learn and grow in this field and this year, HospiceWits is hosting the Palliative Care Symposium on the 14th of October 2023 at the Sandton Netcare Head Quarters.
The symposium is titled “Beyond the Borders: Extending the Frontiers of Palliative Care”, bringing attention firmly to the often misunderstood and neglected areas of the work that hospice does.
Hospice care is not just for patients who are in the terminal phase of their illness also known as life threatening: it’s also for patients who have long-term life limiting chronic illnesses. This is what the symposium wants to focus on, as it is often an area that does not get as much attention as it should.
The symposium also aims to encourage thought and discussion on the need to include patients with long-term illness to seek out assistance and palliation. It is important for carers, the public and medical professionals to be educated on the options available through HospiceWits and hospice care in general, including the care of those with long-term illnesses requiring palliative care or palliation.
HospiceWits is a prominent player in the arena of palliative care, providing assistance and support to patients as well as their loved ones by specialist members of the clinical team being palliative care trained. The symposium aims to tackle issues such as HIV in palliative care, spiritual health, pain management as well as sexual and mental health and the relevance of palliation in patients with End Stage Renal Failure.
The emphasis is on education and understanding, which is something that HospiceWits supports daily through its dedicated work with patients from all walks of life in the greater Johannesburg and Soweto area.
