The Hindu 05.09.2013
Palliative care to the doorstep
Attingal municipality’s ‘Palliative care at doorstep’
programme aims to ensure support to terminally ill persons within the
municipality limits. The programme makes use of the services of a
trained nurse and volunteers.
Vice-chairman of the Municipality M. Pradeep said the programme was launched two weeks ago.
A
survey was conducted by accredited social health activists (ASHA)
volunteers and they identified as many as 49 terminally sick persons in
Attingal area who needed home care, he said.
A
trained nurse along with the volunteers would visit the homes of these
49 persons once a week and provide a range of healthcare services such
as checking of blood pressure and temperature; cleaning and dressing
wounds; and administering of pain killers, he said.
“The
volunteers are selected from areas nearer to the patient resides. The
workers, besides attending to the needs of the patients, also give
training to caregivers to attend to the basic needs of the terminally
ill person. The volunteers make daily visits to the homes of those
patients who have none to attend to them,” he said.
The
civic body also provides its ambulance to shift patients to the
Government Medical College Hospital and Regional Cancer Centre for
treatment.
Under the Attingal municipality’s programme, a trained nnurse and volunteers will visit the homes of those in need of care.
