Hospice and palliative care organisations in several countries are doing what they can to help – by travelling to Haiti to share their expertise, by providing emotional support to people in their own communities who have been directly affected by the disaster and through financial support to the disaster relief operation in Haiti.
Colette Cunningham, a nurse and educator from Ireland, is now in Haiti volunteering with Catholic Relief Services. Well known in the international palliative care community and for her work with children in Africa, Colette is currently working in the internally displaced camps on public health, ensuring follow-up for people with major wounds and injuries. She is also providing pain management, which is part of the follow-up especially for amputees.
Colette is also planning to assist Holy Angels Hospice for Children and St Josephs Hospice. Colette has previously worked in Rwanda and Zambia, with the Irish Palliative Care Association, and is a member of the scientific committee of the International Children’s Palliative Care Network.
In the United States, the National Hospice Foundation has donated an initial $15,000 (US dollars) to Haitian Earthquake Relief. Three organisations doing on-the-ground work in Haiti – Holy Angels Hospice, Partners in Health, and the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer – have each received $5,000 (US dollars). For more information visit www.nationalhospicefoundation.org
