March 14, 2023
By Nathania John, Communications Intern
The Community Wellbeing programme engaged community health workers from the Kotagiri Medical Fellowship Hospital, located down the lane from our campus, in a two-day training on March 13 and 14. The event was facilitated by members of the Community Wellbeing team and enthusiastic medical professionals from KMF who participated as speakers. They graciously took time out of their busy schedules to come and share their experiences and medical knowledge with the health workers in attendance. Every one of the medical professionals proved to be diligent and truly hardworking in their respective fields, while also exuding a contagious passion for the work that they do. The training covered a diverse range of dimensions within the medical field from lifestyle diseases and caring for bedbound patients, to the pressing need for palliative care and the significance of building personal and emotional relationships with one’s patients.
The first day was inaugurated by an icebreaker organised by members of the CWB team, followed by an overview on disability by Dr Koshy. High blood pressure and diabetes being extremely common lifestyle diseases were given their own special attention. An understanding of the procedures undertaken to measure both parameters was developed through practical demonstrations. Sister Ruby gave the trainees an overview into palliative care and nursing, followed by an insight into when patients need to approach a hospital offered by Dr Jason.
The second day began with quite the interesting and necessary subject, on care required by bedbound patients, particularly those who struggle with bedsores and wounds. Dr Kammalakar simplified the steps or precautions vital to caring for bedbound patients, while also placing emphasis on following a process instead of rushing through the task of nursing wounds. A vibrant duo from the ENT centre Dr Akhila and Dr Joanna did a solid job in conveying to the health workers the importance of providing tools through speech therapy to those with difficulties.
During the sessions, there was also ample room for discussions to take place between the attendees and medical staff. This really helped the workshop become more of a lively conversation. Dr Tony and Dr Anjana spoke about caring for people who had suffered strokes, focusing on identifying symptoms and treatment. Dr Tony gave a session that was engaging and light-hearted through humour. Dr Anjana who is a physiotherapist made the session engaging through the way she demonstrated physiotherapy exercises, by encouraging participants to volunteer.
The much-awaited session on communicating unfortunate news or bad medical reports and bereavement was led by Dr Ancy. This discussion was open to the non-health workers on campus. The highlight of her talk was understanding the different types of suffering one goes through when they undergo terminal illnesses such as cancer. It was a moving conversation on the importance of having unconditional empathy for patients and their families, a much-needed reminder for everybody that attended the session. The two-day workshop finally closed with a recap and takeaway discussion led by the CWB team.
After the training, we had the opportunity to briefly gather testimonies from the trainees about their experience of being a part of the workshop. Everyone that we talked to seemed to have a high regard for the doctors and nurses from KMF. They were appreciative of the knowledge they have imparted to them. Many of them said that they benefited from the many sessions and that they are now looking forward to implementing these learnings in their own work. It instilled in them a desire to bring hope and high quality medical care to the patients in their villages.
