• FHSSA Partnership Application (U.S.)
  U.S. application for organizations interested in becoming a FHSSA partner
• FHSSA Partnership Application (AFRICANS)
  Application materials for African hospice programs
  • African Partnership Assessment Form
• Where We Are  (PDF)
  FHSSA has partners in several different African countries and American states. Find out where we are.
• FHSSA Partnership Monitoring and Evaluation Tool
  Annual Report for Partnership Initiative Members
• Become a Partner
  Join the American Hospice movement in the international response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Best Practices in Partnering
  Read stories demonstrating Best Practices using the FHSSA Pillars of Partnering

What is a partnership?

One focus of FHSSA's strategic plan is the Partnership Initiative, which matches African healthcare programs and American organizations. The goal of the partnerships is to form a mutually beneficial relationship that leads to an exchange of expertise and insight, and to provide avenues of funding and other forms of assistance for our partners. These relationships foster intercultural learning between the hospices and resource mobilization for the African programs.

Partnership and Technical Support Initiative

• Expand and create new models of partnerships that transition the “one-to-one partnering” to broader collaborative partnerships that include US hospices and palliative care providers, academic institutions, faith-based programs, health care and community-based organizations, and civic and corporate organizations.
• Support outreach and collaborative efforts among other organizations with inherent interests in  Africa.
• Develop and implement educational programs and resources that facilitate and promote support for international programs.
• Provide management, educational services, technical assistance and support to the African Palliative Care Association (APCA) and other recognized country associations.

Information on the One-to-One model of Partnerships

FHSSA’s Partnership Initiative matches U.S. organizations - hospices, palliative care programs, healthcare, community and faith-based organizations - with similar African programs to help support the provision of palliative and home-based care in sub-Saharan Africa.  One goal of the initiative is to promote mutually beneficial relationships between the partnered agencies that will foster idea-sharing, educational opportunities, professional exchanges, and learning experiences for both programs.  Another goal is to generate financial support for the African organizations through the activities and fundraising efforts of the U.S. partner organizations. 

Partnership Benefits for U.S. Partners:

• First hand education about the realities of HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa
  - Partnerships present an opportunity for U.S. hospices to learn about the effects of HIV/AIDS on communities in Africa. They also present an opportunity for U.S. hospices to share this information with their local communities.
• Learning how hospice care is given in low resource settings
  - Partnerships lead U.S. hospices to a greater understanding of how quality hospice and palliative care can be provided with limited resources.
• Formation of a long-lasting relationship with a single African hospice
  - Partnerships lead U.S. hospices to a deeper understanding of their twins' challenges, goals and successes.

Benefits for African Partners:

• Psychological support from U.S. Partner
  - African hospice partners benefit from the knowledge that they are being supported in their efforts to confront the AIDS epidemic and care for its dying.
• Financial and in-kind support
  - U.S. partners often assist their African partners with funds to help to support and expand their programs
  - Twins often send in-kind donations of medical supplies, home care supplies, professional journals, books and training materials to their African partners.
• Formation of a long-lasting relationship with a U.S. hospice
  - African partners have the opportunity to understand hospice care in the U.S. context.

Activities Undertaken by Partners:

• Case Sharing between hospices
  - Discussion of clinical decisions, challenges, approaches
• The creation of a bulletin board of information on the partner in the hospice office or in-patient unit
  - Inclusion of emails, pictures, etc.
• The hosting of a staff member from a partner hospice for a visit to the other's hospice
  - Opportunity for members of partner hospices to see firsthand how hospice care is delivered in their partners' program.
• Fundraising activities such as book sales, raffles, bake sales, concerts, talent shows, payroll deductions, coin collection cans, etc. (all, and many others, have been carried out by a U.S. partner in the past!)

FHSSA's Role:

• We provide the "due diligence:"
  - We evaluate applicants to ensure that they meet required standards for hospice and palliative care.
  - We ensure their financial and programmatic credibility.
• We make the matches
  - based on characteristics such as size of each program, interests, location, program components, etc. We take requests into account.
• We assume responsibility for transfer of funds
  - Our international tax-exempt status enables us to wire grants overseas.
• We provide guidance and suggestions for all of our partners.

FAQs about FHSSA's Partnership Initiative

How much money, if any, are U.S. twins required to send to their African twins?
U.S. hospices aren’t required to send a specific amount of money to their twins.  Any fundraising activities are left to the discretion of each U.S. twin.  However, fundraising and monetary support for the African twin hospices is a fundamental component of assistance for their programs, and we urge all U.S. twins to make it a pillar of their twinning relationship.

FHSSA Donation Form

Is there a danger that fund- raising for our African twin might take away from our own hospice’s base of financial support?
FHSSA’s experience is that U.S. twins have discovered a new population of donors when fundraising for their African partners.  These donors tend not to be from the same pool as the donors that often contribute to the U.S. hospice’s own fund-raising campaigns, and thus seem to lessen the risk for “donor fatigue.”

If you are interested in learning more about opportunities to support or establish partner relationships in sub-Saharan Africa, please email FHSSA at partnerships@fhssa.org.