Kozhikode: The Institute of Palliative Medicine here will soon launch ‘Samvedanam,’ a training programme in palliative communication for youngsters who are willing to help the terminally-ill patients. Though there are many trained volunteers in palliative care, a training in palliative communication is absent. As a first step, a team of trainers would be constituted in Kozhikode who will learn how to train others in better communication to improve the mental state of the patients and their relatives.
Dr K. Suresh Kumar, one of the founders of the Pain and Palliative Movement in the state, told DC that they aimed to empower a significant section of youngsters to communicate with the patients in a better way. “The training would help the volunteers to speak well to a patient who is awaiting death, how to behave with relatives during the visit, how to advise them on the varied needs of the patient and also instil a positive energy in the family,” he said.
The programme is implemented in Kozhikode with the cooperation of Compassionate Kozhikode project. District collector N Prasanth said that the project aims at enrolling at least two percent of society in the palliative movement. “We need individuals who are ready to learn palliative communication through various workshops and to teach it to the enrolled good Samaritans.
A person who is ready to spend at least 35 hours this year can join the project which would start this month itself,” he added. “I hope this would be another model from Kozhikode in palliative care as some brave minds introduced the first palliative care unit of South India on the Medical College campus way back in 1993,” he added. To enrol as trainer, contact: Mob. 9847736000.
