Article written by Dr Lalitha Jeyasingam , Medical Director , ASPAC
Assisi Palliative Care Berhad (ASPAC) is a charitable organisation governed by a Board of Directors, providing free of charge professional palliative care services to the community. We are based in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia and we provide a team based approach to provide high quality’ hospice at home’ care to our patients based on their needs. Most of our referrals come from public hospitals and consist primarily of adult patients with advanced cancer. However, we are increasingly receiving referrals of patients with non-cancer illnesses (e.g Motor Neurone Disease, Dementia, End stage Heart failure and Kidney disease). There are also a growing number of children being referred for paediatric palliative care.
The team consists of two doctors, five nurses, a counsellor, dispenser and volunteers who work towards providing support that improves quality of care for the patient and their carer/family members. We strive to meet the patients physical, emotional, spiritual and practical needs. We also loan out medical equipment such as hospital beds, oxygen concentrators, wheelchairs; and we supply medications as and when they are available to us (free of charge).
ASPAC runs periodic training programs for volunteers, nurses and other health care workers. We believe that continuous professional development is important for staff to deliver skilled palliative care in a holistic manner. There is bedside teaching for nurses and daily clinical review of cases. The nurses and doctors also conduct weekly case presentations and discussions. ASPAC invites palliative care professionals from overseas and locally to join the team when possible so that there is exchange and sharing of information for the betterment of all. Our team attends seminars, teaching programs and conferences when opportunities arise bearing in mind the financial constraints.
We accept medical students and other undergraduates from various universities and colleges for short attachment postings when possible. Our medical advisors are senior Palliative Medicine consultants from University Hospital (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur which is a premier teaching hospital for undergraduate and postgraduate students of University Malaya.
We hope to reach out to other hospice organisations locally and overseas and are open to the possibility of hosting overseas colleagues and in return send members of our team to culturally diverse regions to teach and to learn where both sides would benefit in a two way sharing experience.
ASSISI PALLIATIVE CARE BHD (1151314-D)
(Company Limited By Guarantee And Not Having A Share Capital)
49 Jalan Railway 1/2, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
T: +603 7783 8833 F: +603 7783 8899 E: info@aspac.my W: http://www.aspacmalaysia.org