Flora Dangwa, on winning a prize at the CREATE fellows meeting in November

Flora Dangwa, CREATE fellow who started in November 2024, wrote a short piece on how pleased she was to win a prize for her presentation at the fellows meeting in November.

'Building a world where dignity at end of life is universal. I’m deeply honoured to have won the CREATE Lightning Presentation for my work on the “MUTSA Study,” exploring Compassionate Communities and Ubuntu in palliative care at the recent CREATE PhD Fellows meeting in London.

This recognition is more than an award—it reflects the collective brilliance of the CREATE PhD Fellows and my passion for co-designing care models that honour culture and dignity for people living with life-limiting illness in low- and middle-income countries.

My project is dedicated to my parents and the millions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs ) who face end-of-life suffering with little or no access to palliative care. Despite palliative care being an essential health service under Universal Health Coverage and palliative care proven to improve quality of life, only about 14% of those who need palliative care receive it—mostly in high-income countries.

Compassionate Communities as a new public health approach empowers communities to engage with each other, normalise conversations around death, dying, and grief while building sustainable networks of care. This is urgently needed in LMICs where access to palliative care is limited. My project leverages on  the African philosophy of Ubuntu, a concept that puts community values of shared social responsibility above individualism, “I am because we are”. Ubuntu—“I am because we are”—reminds us that end-of-life care is not just clinical; it’s a shared responsibility rooted in solidarity, compassion — “Mutsa”, empathy, and hope.

My goal is to work with communities, co-design and build compassionate networks that support patients and caregivers, ensuring dignity at the end of life. This is vital in LMICs, where access to formal palliative care health services are limited, yet cultural values of care and togetherness are deeply inherent particularly within certain cultures.

I’d love to connect with researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and advocates for culturally inclusive palliative care models. Let’s collaborate for a world where palliative care is not a privilege but a universal reality.

Thank you to Wellcome Trust, the CREATE team, and my fellow CREATE PhD Fellows for an inspiring and supportive community, our bonding through shared passion  for impactful global health ideas. It was great meeting you all in person in London'.

#PalliativeCare #CompassionateCommunities #Ubuntu #GlobalHealth #CREATEFellowship #WellcomeTrust #EndOfLifeCare #NursingLeadership