Palliative Care and the Well-Being of Chronically Ill Inmates in Eldoret Prison Uasin-Gishu County, Kenya

The aim of the study was to investigate the palliative care and the wellbeing of chronically ill inmates in Eldoret Government of Kenya prison Uasin-Gishu County. The specific objectives of the study were: To determine the extent to which psycho-social support influences the wellbeing of chronically ill inmates; to establish the influence of hygiene standards on the wellbeing of chronically ill inmates at Eldoret GK prison and to establish the influence of clinical service provision on the wellbeing of chronically ill inmates at Eldoret GK prison and to investigate the influence of spiritual support on wellbeing of chronically ill inmates at Eldoret GK prison. The study targeted inmates and the prison officials in charge of provision of health services to inmates who complemented information collected from chronically ill inmates. The study had a target of 50 chronically ill patients but only 37 were available for the study. From the findings, the researcher found out that other forms of spiritual service provision including trainings for spiritual leaders; exchange programmes; provision of bibles; and giving opportunities for staff and outsiders to minister to the inmates was practice as well though not in a big scale. In conclusion, the inmates appreciated the services they received from while in prison. There was a significant level of satisfaction from the inmates in terms of the accessibility to these services. The study recommends that an independent agency be set up and tasked with the coming up of standards of hygiene in prisons. It should also be tasked with the planning prison set ups that are not only cognizant of the nature of sentence but also, sensitive to the illness that the inmates. In view of the potentially high cost of prison expansion, the prison departments should come up with a policy to give decongest the prisons that allots special consideration to the chronically ill inmates. This will serve to reduce the prison wage bill that goes into taking care of them.