Palliative Care Education

Video Based Educational Modules

In the past few years, PCERA has been developing a multi-media educational curriculum using video clips from actual palliative care encounters between our Ugandan team of experts and Ugandan patients in order to educate local healthcare workers in several principles of palliative care.  Working closely with the documentary filmmaker Lucy Bruell, PCERA created several video-based modules that can be used in educational settings such as medical schools, nursing schools, and hospitals.  Work is ongoing to include more topics to be covered by the curriculum.   In order to disseminate this educational program, we have partnered with Pan African and Ugandan palliative care organizations such as The African Palliative Care Association and Hospice Africa Uganda that have the infrastructure to reach as many nurses and doctors on as broad a scale as possible.   These modules have been presented at international palliative care conferences and have been met with great success.

Patient Education Videos

Another initiative that is in development is patient education through videos distributed to local communities covering health topics that touch many people.  In 2022 we visited a young man with advanced cancer who was suffering in pain.  We treated his pain, but when we explored how much he and his father understood about his cancer and its treatment, they presented a booklet they received from the Uganda Cancer Institute at their first visit called, “Coping with Cancer, A Booklet for Cancer Patients.” When the boy was diagnosed, no explanation of his disease was given except handing the father the book.  “But we can’t read '', he explained to us.  Because of this visit, and many similar encounters by our team in the rural villages, PCERA is working with US- and African-based filmmakers developing a series of short videos in local languages explaining cancer, its treatment, the side effects of treatments and how these symptoms can be managed. 

With the support of its donors, PCERA is able to provide all of this free of charge in these LMIC settings. PCERA never charges for any of their services

Advancing Research to Improve Care

PCERA is currently involved with four major research projects, each aimed at solving barriers to care through innovation and data:

A. Destigmatizing Breast Cancer in Africa

This study addresses the dire need for early diagnosis by countering misinformation and stigma around breast cancer—especially in rural areas where 60–70% of women are diagnosed at late stages and where literacy and access to internet-based information is limited. We are currently creating an educational video using actual African patients and clinicians, professionally filmed and translated into multiple languages spoken on the African continent to be distributed via smartphones to volunteer Village Health Teams (VHTs) and tracking their impact on awareness, knowledge and health-seeking behavior.

B. “When You Have Cancer” Study

In partnership with the Uganda Cancer Institute, this project evaluates the role of educational videos in improving knowledge and decision-making among cancer patients and caregivers. Initial data collection is complete, and the project is on track for presentation at two major upcoming international conferences with plans for subsequent publication.

C. Feasibility of Smartphone Video Education using volunteer Village Health Teams (VHTs)

We are assessing the practicalities of scaling up video-based education in rural Uganda by partnering with community health workers as facilitators and using basic smartphone technology that can be used in Lower and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) for many topics.

D. Small Solar-Powered Lights and Symptom Burden

This study explores how small, solar-powered lights might reduce symptom distress and improve care in households with seriously ill patients who often live without electricity.  Our preliminary results suggest a significant impact on the quality of life of chronically ill patients and their caregivers.

Presenting Work on the Global Stage

PCERA is preparing multiple presentations for international conferences attended by hundreds of healthcare professionals and policymakers.  Upcoming conferences include

·      The 8th International African Palliative Care Conference, Botswana (Sept 2025)
Topics include:

o   Empowering cancer patients through VHT-led education using video education tools

o   Improving rural palliative care access and sustainability

o   Running workshops on grief and bereavement for VHTs and healthcare professionals

o   Members of PCERA have been invited to serve on the African Palliative Care Association's Grief and Bereavement Policy Committee to rewrite the guidelines for countries on the African continent.

·       African Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) Conference, Tunisia (Nov 2025)

o   Presenting findings from the “When You Have Cancer” study to expand awareness and availability of the videos developed by PCERA to the approximately one thousand delegates from dozens of countries attending. This is the largest oncology conference in Africa.

·       Weill Cornell Tanzania Neurosurgery Project’s Global Neurosurgery Course, Tanzania (March 2025)

o   Dr. Diamond presented talks focusing on palliative care for neurotrauma patients in low-income settings presented to neurosurgeons, spine surgeons, neurotrauma nurses from Africa, Europe, and North America.

·       U.S.-based conferences and lectures, numerous presentations ongoing throughout 2025

Healthcare Providers (Doctors, Nurses, Village Health Teams, Students)

Palliative Education and Care for Rural Africa (PCERA) recognizes that continued education of local healthcare providers is paramount to its mission of providing palliative care to the people in the rural areas of lower and middle income countries.  While initially this involved giving lectures and one-on-one demonstrations to local physicians and nurses on principles of palliative care, as time went on, we realized the need for further reaching techniques to train all healthcare workers to be able to provide self-sufficient and self-sustaining palliative care to the local population, both rural and urban. 

Patient Education

Working in impoverished areas with a low literacy rate we realized quickly that there was often a poor understanding by patients and their caregivers about their illnesses and treatments. Explanations by healthcare providers take time, something practitioners in an overwhelmed medical system don’t have a lot of. For that reason, PCERA is now developing 5 - 10 minute videos and audios that can be played on smartphones (something the volunteer village health workers (VHTs) carry for their work) to show patients so that the ability to read becomes unnecessary. We have several other projects in the planning stages to educate local community dwellers in health related topics.

Some of our current projects:

Expanding Education and Clinical Knowledge

Lectures and Training Sessions: PCERA team members conduct targeted interactive sessions on palliative care, pain assessment and management, and breast cancer awareness to healthcare professionals in Uganda and Tanzania. For example, in 2025, a particularly impactful community-based breast cancer awareness event this spring drew over 100 community members and community leaders in rural Uganda, many of whom had limited access to this kind of lifesaving information.

Webinars for Lower and Middle Income Countries on Palliative Care Topics
A series of webinars on grief and bereavement has been developed by Randi and her  palliative care colleagues at Weill Cornell College of Medicine on palliative care topics. Collaborating with the African Palliative Care Association, each of these webinars have been attended by as many as 150 on-line participants from about 20 countries (many African but also attended by healthcare workers around the world including Nepal, Poland, Luxembourg, and Vietnam to name just a few, bringing new ideas and approaches to areas with limited resources where such information is not readily available. 

Educational Programs for Village Health Workers
Statistics show that close to 90% of palliative care needs are not met in many lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in Africa.  PCERA conducts in-person educational programs at rural hospitals and with village health workers to raise awareness of what palliative care is, what it can do for their communities, and how it can be accessed.  Presenting to over 200 people this past year, the Palliative Care Outreach Team has seen a 300% increase in referrals.  Consequently, PCERA is now paying to educate and support additional nurses in specialty palliative care training to cover the increased needs in the villages.