ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention
Exploring the Perceptions of Oncology Healthcare Professionals on Introducing Home-based Palliative Care (HBPC) for Patients with Advanced Cancer in Gaza - A Qualitative Study
Haytham Abusenjar 1
Fatima Mansour 1
Tracy Daou 1
Khamis Elessi 2
Rana Yamout 1
1. American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
2. Islamic University of Gaza, Gaza, Palestine
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Abstract
Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life for those with life-limiting diseases. It is still an emerging specialty in Palestine with limited governmental funding and underdeveloped national palliative care policies. Yet, the high burden of cancer and ongoing conflict in Gaza have increased the need for palliative care. Home-based palliative care has emerged as a promising approach to address the unmet needs of patients with advanced cancer, particularly in low-resource settings. This research aims to explore the perceptions of the oncology healthcare team on introducing home-based palliative care for patients with advanced cancer in a tertiary centre in Gaza. This is a qualitative study that was carried out at the Turkish Palestinian Friendship Hospital in Gaza. Semi structured face‒to-face interviews were conducted with 15 healthcare professionals working in the oncology department. Data collection took place between March and May 2023, and the data were analysed via a thematic analysis approach. Four main themes and fourteen subthemes were generated from the thematic analysis. The main themes include general perceptions about palliative care, perceptions of home-based palliative care, challenges in the provision of home-based palliative care, and suggestions to overcome challenges. The purpose of palliative care was recognized to extend beyond standard physical care. The introduction of palliative care services in Gaza remains in its infancy. Shortages of palliative care experts, budget constraints, endemic conflicts and cultural sensitivity were reported to be significant challenges for its development. However, several suggestions to address these obstacles have also been presented. Although developing home-based palliative care could be beneficial to cancer patients, their families and healthcare system, the political conflict represents one of the main barriers to its development. To comprehensively understand and develop an effective model for home-based palliative care, future research should include broader perspectives including families and communities.
Summary
Keywords
Advanced cancer, Conflict-affected settings, Gaza, Home-based palliative care, Humanitarian settings, Oncology HealthcareProfessionals, Palliative Care
Received
13 January 2026
Accepted
20 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Abusenjar, Mansour, Daou, Elessi and Yamout. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Rana Yamout
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