Remote Symptom Monitoring to Enhance the Delivery of Palliative Cancer Care in Low-Resource Settings: Emerging Approaches from Africa.

This paper brings together researchers, clinicians, technology developers and digital innovators to outline current applications of remote symptom monitoring being developed for palliative cancer care delivery in Africa. We outline three remote symptom monitoring approaches from three countries, highlighting their models of delivery and intended outcomes, and draw on their experiences of implementation to guide further developments and evaluations of this approach for palliative cancer care in the region. Through highlighting these experiences and priority areas for future research, we hope to steer efforts to develop and optimise remote symptom monitoring for palliative cancer care in Africa.

The Zimbabwe Rural Palliative Care Initiative: PCI-Z.

The Zimbabwe Rural Palliative Care Initiative is a program to increase access and expand palliative care in rural Zimbabwe. The goal was to add palliative care to existing home-based care teams comprising indigenous rural volunteers. Palliative care expertise is being developed through training and ongoing mentorship provided by Island Hospice Service, headquartered in the capital city of Harare. Specific outcomes relative to palliative care are reported, using the African Palliative Care Association African Palliative Outcome Scale, the Karnofsky Performance Scale, and a Supervision and Mentorship Checklist. Positive impact is documented, and there is significant opportunity for similar outcomes on a national scale.