Published on: December 8, 2023

Project Hamrahi team from Australia, comprising Ms Gauri Godbole and Dr Bhagyashree Malani, visited Snehaanchal Hospice and Palliative Care Centre, Nagpur, Maharashtra, from 30th September to 4th October 2023.

At the outset, Snehanchal team gave a detailed introduction about their work philosophy to help the Hamrahi team understand the multi-dimensional palliative care that they provide. There were various rounds of discussions on medical aspects of palliative care and various treatment modalities for a number of palliative care associated ailments including pediatric palliative care.

The Hamrahi team interacted with the nursing staff of Snehanchal and guided the nurses about certain medications and how to administer it. They also discussed about medicine storage, labelling and inventory control etc.

The Hamrahi team then visited the cancer wards of Govt. Medical Cancer Centre and Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Regional Cancer Centre (RST). They had discussions with the ward nursing staff and got the opportunity to explain the importance of wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) when mixing chemotherapy, which was well received.

Later they visited the outreach OPD of Snehanchal and also accompanied their home care team for few home visits, which was quite a learning experience for Hamrahi team.

Overall both the teams (Hamrahi and Snehanchal) benefitted immensely from this collaborative visit through Pallium India. Hamrahi team suggested a few improvements in the patient management, medicine administration, wound management and communication skills which was well received by Snehanchal team.

Snehanchal team has thanked Pallium India for this initiative and Hamrahi team is equally delighted for such an enriching experience.

Project Hamrahi (‘Hamrahi’ means fellow-traveler) is a collaborative venture between Pallium India and Australia Palliative Link International (APLI).

(Prepared by Ms Sunanda Samal, Regional Facilitator, Pallium India.)