Training nurses to help families in Peru address palliative (end-of-life) care for cancer patients.

Although palliative care is often mistakenly associated only with end of life, it is just as important as ongoing treatment as chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and surgery. Palliative care is a specialized kind of care that works with your regular, ongoing treatment to support and sustain a person physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Studies show those who include palliative care in ongoing cancer treatment not only enjoy better quality of life, but also may live longer.

PATH’s Susan G Komen funded project tackled improving the quality of life of patients and their families facing breast cancer in Peru, by engaging local and international champions to create and validate a palliative care patient education curriculum for incorporation into a national program of patient navigation. The patient navigation approach of community and patient outreach developed by PATH has been taken up regionally and nationally in Peru, with validated curricula and training of navigators. PATH is now supporting the growth and expansion of patient navigation activities into the area of palliative care.

This course has enhanced the Peruvian National Cancer Institute’s palliative care program and other hospitals with palliative care units, while providing additional content to train nurses for future patient navigation training and services for patients and their families.

Several materials were produced, including a reference manual for use by nurse teachers and visual materials for interactive instruction with patients and families. The curriculum has been qualitatively evaluated with nurses, clinicians, patients, and family members during the implementation period.

Women with breast cancer and their families will continue to benefit by having access to timely and accurate information on palliative care, as will other cancer patients. Nurse patient navigators will continue to benefit by having access to culturally relevant, clinically appropriate, and locally validated teaching materials.

Author(s): Ines Contreras

Publication date: December 2023

Available materials

  1. English

    1. Palliative Care Flipchart 3.2 MB PDF
    2. Nursing Instructions to Educate Nurses in Palliative Care 881.2 KB PDF

  2. Spanish

    1. Rotafolio Cuidados Paliativos 3 MB PDF
    2. Instructivo Enfermería para Educar a Cuidadores en Cuidados Paliativos Oncológicos 1.5 MB PDF