Ms Sheela Rani awarded the prestigious ‘National Florence Nightingale Award’ from her Excellency, Ms Droupadi Murmu, President of India, on 7th November, 2022

It is with immense pride we share that Ms Sheela Rani, a palliative care nurse from Kottayam, Kerala, was one of the recipient’s of this years ‘National Florence Nightingale Award’. Ms Sheela Rani received the award from none other than her Excellency, Ms Droupadi Murmu, the President of India, during the award ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, on Monday, 7th November, 2022.

The ‘National Florence Nightingale Awards’ were instituted in 1973 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, to recognize the meritorious services rendered by the nurses and nursing professionals to the society.

Ms Sheela Rani V S, is an ANM and a palliative home care nurse who works at the Kidangoor Gram Panchayat, Kottayam, Kerala. She has been delivering quality and compassionate care to her patients since 2011. As a member of her Palliative Care team, Ms Sheela Rani works alongside local and state authorities to deliver effective home care services, and is well known for her excellence and committed service within the Palliative Care community. She has also undergone various training programs at the local district and state level and has received certificates of recognition for the same.

Ms Sheela Rani received this award along with 50 other nurses from across the country. Please click here to watch the recording from the award ceremony.

Congratulations, Ms Sheela Rani! We are so very proud of you!

Ms Ashla Rani receives the ‘Znehazandram Award’ on 11th November, 2022

Pallium India’s Trustee, Ms Ashla Rani M P, was the recipient of the ‘Znehazandram Award’, presented by ZMART Foundation, at a ceremony held at Pallium India’s headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, on Friday, 11th November, 2022.

The ‘ZnehaZandram Award’ is an endowment setup for individuals who lead inspirational lives, by Mr Karikkottu George Oommen and Ms Rachel George in loving memory of their daughter Sandra. The Award therefore aims to identify and honor those personalities who have bravely endured the hurdles put in their path by fate, and have achieved inspirational feats.

Ms Ashla Rani was bestowed with the award in recognition of her advocacy for disability rights. “In spite of hurdles, she refused to back down” says the citation, “and her perseverance makes her a fitting recipient.”

The award was presented to Ms Ashla Rani by the Chief Guest, Dr Biju Jacob (Principal Accountant General, Kerala) in the presence of Dr Alex Oommen and Dr Beena Oommen (Trustee’s, ZMART Foundation), Fr Koshy Alexander Ashbi, Dr Rajgopal and his entire team from Pallium India.

Please click here for further details about this.

ZMART Foundation is a charitable trust, headquartered in Kozhikode, Kerala, aimed at providing support to those in need by upholding the principles of mercy, charity, and duty towards one’s fellow human beings, beyond the boundaries of religion, caste, and creed.

Congratulations, Ms Ashla Rani! Keep inspiring us!

Pain and Palliative Care Society, Thrissur, celebrates 25 years of provisioning palliative care services on 4th November, 2022

The Pain and Palliative Care Society (PPCS), Thrissur, celebrated their silver jubilee of provisioning quality palliative care on Friday, 4th November, 2022.

The silver jubilee celebrations were inaugurated by Ms Gilly Burn (Founder Director, Cancer Relief India, UK) who interestingly had also lit the inaugural lamp for the center, twenty five years ago. The celebrations also included a panel discussion on ‘Building Compassionate Communities’ presented by  Dr Suresh Kumar (Director, Institute of Palliative Medicine, Kozhikode), Dr E Divakaran (Director, Institute of Palliative Care, Thrissur), Dr Manoj Kumar (Founder and Clinical Director, Mental Health Action Trust, Kozhikode),  Ms Sheeba Ameer (Solace, Thrissur), and Dr Bhanumathi (Founder, Association for Mentally Handicapped Adults, Thrissur).

On this occasion, Dr Divakaran shares “In connection with the silver jubilee celebrations, we have planned several projects. One among them is Compassionate Thrissur. People are compassionate. The problem is that they are not getting a platform for expressing it in an organised manner. We were successful in utilising this compassion in alleviation of health related suffering. Why not extend this for solving other suffering in the community? Compassionate community is only a logical extension of what we are already doing. If all the palliative care units begin extending their activities in this direction, we can hope for a compassionate world.”

The center began its operations from a small room in the old Government Medical College Hospital, Thrissur, in 1997. By now, the center has now rendered free palliative care for over 24,000 patients who include cancer patients, kidney patients, paraplegics, mentally challenged and elderly persons.

The center is led primarily by qualified and passionate volunteers who function from their 10 bed in-patient center, their home care unit, their day care unit, their hospice and their physical and medicine and rehabilitation unit. The society has a training and research wing, the Institute of Palliative Care, at Thrissur, which offers training for doctors, nurses, and volunteers in Palliative Care. The team shares that they are proud of their young volunteers and the student Initiatives in Palliative Care who take active role in imparting quality care to their patients and caregivers.

Congratulations Team PPCS! We wish you the best for all your future endeavours!

Pallium India inaugurates a ‘Pediatric Supportive and Palliative Care Outpatient Clinic’ on 12th November, 2022

Pallium India has expanded their services to now include a ‘Pediatric Supportive and Palliative Care Outpatient Clinic’ from Saturday, 12th November, 2022.The clinic has been initiated with support from UST Global.

These services will be available on a weekly basis as half-day out-patient clinics every Saturday, at Pallium India’s headquarters at Aisha Memorial Hospital, Paruthikkuzhy, between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., and as full-day clinics at the Sree Avittam Thirunal Hospital, the children’s hospital wing, located inside the Government Medical College and Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, every Thursday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m..

The new clinic at Pallium India was inaugurated jointly by Ms Lydia (Beneficiary, Pallium India), Dr Chinchilu (Physician, Sree Avittam Thirunal Hospital), Dr M R Rajagopal (Founder and Chairman, Pallium India) and Dr Sangeetha (Pediatric Palliative Care Physician, Pallium India). Representatives of UST global, Ms Lakshmi and Mr Vineet Mohan, also graced the occasion with their presence.

On the occasion, Mr Vijayakumar and Mr Anil from Himalaya Friends by Tarkett, donated wheelchairs, diapers, etc. for the children receiving care at the center.

This initiative has been launched to reach more children who are suffering from a range of life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, from autoimmune diseases, congenital anomalies, chronic kidney disease and much more. The team shares that they frequently see children from across Kerala and from even Tamil Nadu, as pediatric palliative care services are still largely underdeveloped. Providing these services will try and bridge this gap for innumerable children who may benefit from accessing these services.

Congratulations Team Pallium India! We wish you continued growth. 

CanSupport begins home care services in Sonipat, Haryana, and strengthens services provisioning at Bathinda, Punjab, from 1st October, 2022

CanSupport’s Home Care service has further expanded its reach to now provision palliative home care services in Sonipat, Haryana, and also strengthen its service provisioning at Bathinda, Punjab, from Saturday, 1st October, 2022.

With support from Cipla Foundation, the Sonipat center has initiated provisioning home care services with a team of a trained Doctor, Nurse, Nurse Counsellor and a Public Relations Officer. This initiative was undertaken due to the lack of palliative care services for those suffering from advanced cancer in the region, which is known to have a high prevalence of cancer.

The CanSupport team shares that they have also strengthened their existing fleet of services in Bathinda, Punjab, with the addition of another home care team. They share that the additional team consists of a Doctor, a Nurse and a Counsellor.

Congratulations, Team CanSupport! Keep growing!

Life Care Foundation and Daya Rehabilitation Trust, jointly inaugurate a ‘Physiotherapy Centre’, at Chlackal, Aluva, on 30th October, 2022

The Life Care Foundation (LCF) and the Daya Rehabilitation Trust (DRT), Thanal, have expanded their service provisioning with the inauguration of their new ‘Physiotherapy Center’ at Chalackal, Aluva, on Sunday, 30th October, 2022.

The new center will function as a joint venture of Life Care Foundation and Daya Rehabilitation Trust (Thanal), Vadakara, Kozhikode. 

Ms Gilly Burn (Founder Director, Cancer Relief India, UK) formally inaugurated the Physiotherapy Centre. The inaugural ceremony was attended by Mr Anwar Sadath (MLA, Kerala), Ms Sathi Lalu (President, Keezhmadu Grama Panchayat, Kerala) and other leaders from the Grama Panchayat, Kerala. The inauguration concluded with a high-tea that was organised at Mr Shiyas’s (Volunteer, Life Care Foundation) home.

Mr Mujeeb Kuttamassery (Chairman, Life Care Foundation) shares, “DRT, Thanal, has already invested INR 3 lakhs towards the installation of the physiotherapy machinery and towards the employment of a physiotherapist. The day-to-day operations of the center will be taken care by LCF. The new centre will be led by Ms Mehnas a Physiotherapist and her team of experts.  The Centre will function between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. from Monday to Saturday. With the functioning of a weekly palliative care outpatient centre every Wednesday, the whole system becomes fully operational.”

In addition to the newly inaugurated service at LCF, the center offers free Out-patient services and Home care services to those needing palliative care services.

Congratulations Team LCF and Team DRT! We wish you the best in all your initiatives. 

Team HBCH&RC, Visakhapatnam, get innovative in delivering quality care for children with cancer

The team at Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Center (HBCH&RC), Visakhapatnam, has gotten creative to deliver quality care for children with cancer.

Dr Rohit A Vadgaonkar (Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, HBCH&RC), shares, “Advancements in therapeutic interventions have led to a significant improvement in the overall management of childhood cancer and Radiotherapy forms an important component of their treatment. Modern radiotherapy techniques where an optimal therapeutic ratio can be obtained demands proper and adequate immobilization of the child. This can be technically challenging sometimes, particularly when the child is non-compliant. To address this hurdle, we have used this concept of ‘Superhero’, where we have decorated and painted the thermoplastic masks that are often used in the head and neck and cranial irradiation. We have received adequate compliance for this method, and the need for anesthesia was slackened”.

Please click here for further reading about this.

Congratulations and way to go Team HBCH&RC!