We are delighted to share the publication of Dr Mhoira Leng's paper 'Evaluation of the integration of palliative care in a fragile setting amongst host and refugee communities: Using consecutive rapid participatory appraisals.’ Written in collaboration with several other authors, listed below, this publication is the result of much hard work by Mhoira and her team, and we are extremely proud of them!

The paper seeks to evaluate the integration of palliative care into conflict-affected communities, through studying one such community in Northern Uganda. The paper comes as a result of over 4 years of work, and involved close collaboration with local Village Health Teams. Utilising observation, interviews and document reviews, the paper identifies community engagement and training as key components for integrating palliative care into the health system of such communities.

Such research is increasingly important in improving access to palliative care, as conflict and climate change continue to displace millions of people globally. Differing cultural beliefs and stigmas surrounding health and illness remain a key challenge as people are forced to flee their homes in search of safety, and research such as this will help to bridge the gap between host and refuge populations and improve their access to palliative care.

Furthermore, Dr Leng’s paper has been recognised by the European Association for Palliative Care, being selected as their September Palliative Medicine Editor’s Choice. Huge congratulations go to all the team involved in the writing and publication! Read the EAPC blog on the paper here, or read the editorial discussing this and other papers here.

Contributing authors include: Julia Downing, Gursaran Purewal, Liz Namukwaya, Vicky Opia, Chitra Venkateswaran, Elizabeth Nabirye & Peace Bagasha.