Home visits with Pallium India team are filled with compassion and love.
Syed Askari, Regional Facilitator, Pallium India, writes:
The wisest course of action for you is always God’s plan, and everything proceeds as He intends. After being appointed as Regional Coordinator at Pallium India, it was a great opportunity for me to travel to Pallium India’s headquarters in Trivandrum, Kerala, for the induction and training program. I suppose God had chosen me for a specific mission to be a part of Pallium India.
During my three-week stay in Kerala, I got to know almost all of my Pallium India co-workers. It was a great learning experience and I gained both theoretical and practical knowledge of palliative care. I also had the chance to travel with the home care team and visit some beneficiaries.
As soon as we arrived in Palode village, a highly motivated and sympathetic Home Care team, including Sister Divya Mol (a nurse), Deepa (a social worker), and a local volunteer, got things going.
Our first visit was to see a woman, who was 82 years old and afflicted with Parkinsonism. Her family members were at work outside, thus the only caregiver available for her was a paid one. The staff assessed the patient and provided comfort and hope in addition to medication. I noticed a great deal of loneliness and depression in her eyes.
We then went to see an old woman who was battling lung cancer; when we spoke with her, I could see how much pain she was in. The team noticed that she wasn’t using the recommended dosages. Her only caregivers were her son and daughter-in-law, and the team provided them with the right medication and advice.
Our next patient was a three-year-old boy who suffered from hypothyroidism. The house was situated on top of a hilly, forest region, making access extremely challenging for the patient. His mother was the only person caring for him because his father worked for a daily wage and his sister was enrolled in third-grade studies.
After examining the patient, the team informed the mother that her son had not been receiving the recommended medication for the past two months. The team also noted that the family’s financial situation was precarious, necessitating the provision of educational assistance for the daughter.
As we returned to our office after completing the home visits, the respect and love each family had shown Pallium India’s team was enough for us to realize how much effort the team had been making to better the lives of these patients and their families.
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