PANAJI
The overwhelming focus on patients suffering from Covid-19 during the pandemic has unfortunately led to less focus being given to patients with life threatening incurable diseases like who are in need for palliative care, a latest study conducted by the Goa Institute of Management (GIM) on patients admitted to palliative centres in Goa and Kerala, revealed.
The inter-state study was conducted to understand the social determinants and satisfaction of cancer patients under palliative care in Kerala and Goa. Awareness in the community about the importance of palliative care is lacking amongst the Goan population. The satisfaction vis a vis palliative care services has also advocated long-term strategies beyond the pandemic, to strengthen palliative care services in order to deal with future disasters as the pandemic is re-defining the global health-care scenario.
“The severity of the pandemic has resulted in limited provision of palliative care services throughout the country. Physicians and nurses who are trained in palliative care have often been deployed to deliver emergency care for people with covid. When the health-care system is overwhelmed with covid patients, and the resources are limited, cancer patients may have limited access to health care system and are able to avail supportive treatment only,” stated Dr Vilasini Devi Nair and Prof Vithal Sukhathankar, faculty members at GIM who conducted the survey.
The research, which is based on interviews with 20 randomly selected cancer patients admitted to palliative care facilities in Goa and Kerala, underlines the importance of focusing on designing immediate strategies for effective implementation of palliative care during covid.
Dilasa Centre for the terminally ill, based in Ponda, partnered with the professors on the study and offered the necessary inputs. Dr Narayan S Usgaonker, chairperson of IMA Ponda Charitable Trust that manages ‘Dilasa’ stated, “Palliative care in India is in its infancy, with only 1 % of deserving patients gaining access to palliative care. In Goa similar conditions prevail.”
Dr Narayan added, “If we aim to improve the ‘quality of death’ index, we have to create awareness in the community about the importance of palliative care which is lacking amongst Goan population. This can be achieved with health education to the community and healthcare providers. There are already attempts to incorporate the concept of palliative care in the medical curriculum.”
‘Dilasa’ witnessed an 80 percent reduction in in-patient admissions when it came to palliative care, while some patients postponed appointments given the risk of potential infection.
