• Ashti Doobay-Persaud, Daniel Solchanyk, Oriana Fleming, Nikhil Patel, Denise Drane, Joshua Hauser, and Ann Ogbenna.
• Departments of Medicine and Medical Education, Feinberg School of Medicine, (A.D.P), Division of Hospital Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA; Center for Global Health Education, Havey Institute for Global Health, Feinberg School of Medicine (A.D.P., D.S., O.F., N.P.,), Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Electronic address: a-doobay-persaud@northwestern.edu.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2023 Jan 1; 65 (1): e1e5e1-e5.

ContextPalliative care awareness, education and practice vary widely across global health systems, especially throughout low- and middle-income countries such as Nigeria. Unfortunately, qualitative investigations into the context, experiences and challenges of Nigerian health care professionals providing palliative care in these settings are still underrepresented in the literature.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to better understand the perceptions of palliative care providers in Nigeria.MethodsThe authors conducted an online survey of health professionals caring for patients with palliative care and end of life needs. Survey participants were recruited via convenience sampling from a palliative care training program in Lagos, Nigeria.Results27 palliative care program participants (12 physicians, seven nurses, four pharmacists, two psychiatrists and two physiotherapists) responded to the two-question survey. 39 free text responses were collected and analyzed. A majority (33%, n = 13) of responses reported challenges associated with caring for patients with cancer. Suboptimal pain management was the second most common response type (18%, n = 7). Other significant responses included caring for patients with comorbidities (13%, n = 5), patients seeking spiritual care (8%, n = 3) and patients who were unable to afford standard treatment (5%, n = 2). Uncategorized responses (23%, n = 9) included experiences caring for patients with injuries sustained in military operations and COVID-19, among others.ConclusionThese results provide valuable insights into the palliative care experiences and challenges of an interdisciplinary set of health care practitioners providing palliative care in Nigeria. Further research is needed to elucidate the facilitators and barriers of delivering palliative care in similar settings.Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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