Location: Harare
Seke Rural Hospice was founded in 2001 to improve the quality of life for those affected by HIV/AIDS, the terminally and chronically ill, and orphans and vulnerable children living in the rural areas around Harare. It has a catchment area of approximately 80,000 people and provides home-based services to 5,000 patients. Its 19 full-staff members include a home-based care coordinator, palliative care nurse, social workers, and agricultural and sanitation officers. There are 460 secondary caregivers who volunteer for the hospice.
In addition to providing home-based care to the terminally and chronically ill patients, Seke Rural Hospice also provides psychosocial and material support, counseling and bereavement services, and strengthens existing support groups for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Seke Rural Hospice has one trained caregiver in every village and one administrator for every 10 villages. It also works directly with Kunaka Hospital, a small facility next to the hospice office that performs HIV testing.
Managing pain and infection control in its patients are Seke's primary focus, but it also believes in holistic care. All of its patients have been referred from a hospital for home-based care. Its two social workers help patients with food, housing, family, and bereavement issues. The hospice's "agricultural department" trains families in small-scale farming, irrigation, and building wells, and gives the patient small tasks to make him or her feel worthwhile.
Seke Rural Hospice trains primary caregivers in the home and secondary caregivers in the village. Ten-day seminars and follow-up courses offer instruction in pain- and infection control in the very sick, often bedridden patients. Each volunteer carries simple, necessary supplies including gloves, bleach, soap, antiseptic, mattress cover, and sheets as part of their protocol.