About PALPRAC
Our story
PALPRAC is a membership organisation that began in May 2018 as a simple idea: a WhatsApp group of 13 South African doctors who believed that people facing serious illness deserve care that focuses on living well, not just surviving. By the end of that year, the group had grown to 55. Today, it’s a national non-profit association with more than 300 members working to make sure quality palliative care reaches everyone who needs it.
Why a team, not just a doctor
No single person can meet everything a patient and their family need during a serious illness. That’s why palliative care is delivered by a team: a doctor, nurse, social worker, spiritual counsellor, psychologist or counsellor, physiotherapist, dietician, occupational therapist, and speech therapist, working together around the patient. Each brings a different kind of support, medical, emotional, practical, and spiritual, so that quality of life stays at the centre of care.
Growing to match that vision
PALPRAC was founded by doctors from across general medicine, Family Medicine, Oncology, Paediatrics, Critical Care, and Internal Medicine, united by a shared belief in personalised, quality-of-life-focused care. In 2021, we opened our doors beyond doctors to welcome trained nurses, social workers, and allied health professionals into membership, because we recognised that palliative care has always been a team effort. It was a natural next step toward our vision: quality palliative care, accessible to everyone who needs it.
What we do today
PALPRAC is the national home for palliative care in South Africa. We train and support practitioners, connect a growing community of members and affiliated organisations so no one has to do this work alone, and work with government and private healthcare to expand access to quality palliative care across the country.
