World Health Organization 20, Avenue Appia

Social support
 
Social support for patients and family caregivers living in extreme poverty is needed to ensure that their 
most basic needs are met such as food, housing and transport to medical care, and to promote dignity. 
These supports should include, as appropriate, basic food packages, housing or cash payments for housing, 
transportation vouchers for visits to clinics or hospitals for the patient and a caregiver, and in-kind support, 
such as blankets, sleeping mats, shoes, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste. This type of social support helps 
to ensure that patients can access and benefit from medical care and should be accessible by any patient, 
not only those in need of palliative care or symptom control. One additional social support that should be 
accessible for families living in extreme poverty is locally adequate funeral costs. Culturally and medically 
appropriate burial or disposal of bodies can be a major financial burden for families, and inability to provide 
a funeral can become a chronic emotional burden.
Augmenting the EP PHC
The EP PHC includes only the most basic medicines, equipment, social support and human resources that 
should be accessible to everyone in need. It should not be considered sufficient to meet all palliative care 
or symptom control needs encountered in primary care. Whenever possible, it should be augmented with 
medicines and equipment to optimally meet patients’ needs. 
Medicines and other treatments:
n
paediatric (liquid) formulations of paracetamol, ibuprofen, morphine and diazepam;
n
fentanyl transdermal patches: for patients with moderate or severe cancer pain or pain near the end 
of life who are unable to take oral medicines or who have renal failure;
n
slow-acting oral morphine: for patients with moderate or severe cancer pain or pain near the end of 
life who can take oral medicines; and
n
access to palliative cancer treatments (radiotherapy, chemotherapy) for patients with incurable cancers.
Equipment:
n
wheelchairs, walkers and canes: to improve mobility and reduce the burden on family caregivers.

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