In Support of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, FHSSA Issues a Call to Action to Reach the Goal of 100 Partnerships

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In celebration of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day on October 9, FHSSA is proud to announce that the organization (which began as the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa) is close to reaching its goal of 100 partnerships between U.S. organizations and African hospices.

The theme for the 2010 World Hospice and Palliative Care Day is Sharing the Care, which highlights the role of partnerships in providing care for people living with a life-limiting illness. 

"The theme could not be more perfect to describe the work our U.S. organizations and African partners do together," notes John Mastrojohn III, FHSSA's executive director. "Right now we have partners from 88 U.S. organizations that are paired with a hospice in one of 14 African countries. Our goal is to have 100 partnerships by year's end. We urge all U.S. hospices to consider joining with FHSSA to share the care."

Creating and supporting partnerships between U.S. and African hospice and palliative care organizations is at the core of FHSSA's mission to enhance compassionate care in Africa.

Benefits of partnerships between U.S. and African organizations include:

• Relationships that promote education and knowledge sharing opportunities on best practices of caring for the dying
• Professional exchanges that bring African staff to the U.S. and U.S. staff to sub-Saharan Africa;
• Financial support for the African organizations through fundraising efforts of the U.S. partners
• The engagement of U.S. hospices in improving quality hospice and palliative care internationally.

Some recent examples of partnerships in action include a staff from Hospice of Lancaster County visiting the Kenyan Hospice and Palliative Care Association in Nairobi to provide training the Kenyan member organizations on clinical care; Hospice of Washington County hosting a fundraising art auction that raised $2,000 for its partner Coast Hospice in Mombasa, Kenya; and 17 African partners supported by their American partners to attend the African Palliative Care Association triennial conference in Namibia.

To see how you can support the work of FHSSA and its partners, visit www.fhssa.org and click on the "Get Involved" link." To discuss a partnership opportunity, contact Erinn Nanney at 703-647-6684 or [email protected].

SOURCE FHSSA