The following palliative care services are known to exist in Lithuania.
Existing Services (2002)
Adult
Inpatient - Freestanding
1
- Hospital Unit
0
- Hospital mobile team
0
Nursing Home
0
Home Care
5
Day Care
0
Total
6
Paediatric
Inpatient
0
Home Care
0
Day Care
0
Unspecified
0
Total
0
Grand Total
6
Current Projects
The following palliative care projects are known to exist in Lithuania; these are not yet operational services
Known hospice/ palliative care projects (2002)
Adult
Inpatient - Hospital
0
- Hospice
0
Home Care
0
Unspecified
0
Total
0
Paediatric
Hospital
0
Hospice
0
Home Care
0
Unspecified
0
Total
0
Grand Total
0
There is only one adult hospice in Lithuania and five home care services; there is no paediatric palliative care service.
Lithuania’s first hospice, and the first in the Baltic countries, was Kaunus Hospice of the Lithuanian Caritas Federation, which opened on 23 August 1993 with nine beds, expanding to 35 beds by 1996.2 It cares not only for terminally ill patients, but also for deserted and homeless people; one of its aims is to provide spiritual care in the last days of life. Dr Elva Marciulioniene, chief doctor of the hospice in 1996, undertook study visits to the USA, UK and Belgium. The hospice established a home care service in October 1995 and has an agreement with the Kaunus University of Medicine for first-year students to undertake practical nursing in the inpatient and home care service.
In 1994 a pain clinic was established at Vilnius University, with two doctors and two nurses providing consultations to patients from all over Lithuania; there is now a consultant in the Vilnius Oncology Centre who works entirely in palliative care. There is also a pain management and palliative care service at Panevezys Oncological Hospital, which has expanded to include a day centre and home care service.
Educational provision in the universities
Dr Arvidas Seskevicius has led a programme of development in palliative care education at the Kaunus University of Medicine, which now has six faculties: medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy and public health. In 2002 a 60-hour (elective) programme of palliative care was established for medical students, along with a programme of 80 hours in palliative care for general practitioners, and a 60-hour programme for nurses. These programmes represent a major breakthrough in the formal recognition of palliative care as a subject within Lithuania.
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