Nearly 80% of cancer patients in India are diagnosed in its advanced stages. If the treatment is still possible, its costs are unaffordable. Every, more than 60 patients die from cancer and in pain as less than 3% of these have access to adequate pain relief. The trauma of advanced and terminal cancer can be devastating for the patients and their families. They have nobody to turn up for support once cancer treatment fails or they are declared ‘beyond medical help’.
Coming to the end of life is an intensely personal event that can be emotionally and physically demanding. Besides medical experts and nursing care, patients and their families need compassionate psychosocial support and symptom management, comfort, sensitive communication and clear information.
These measures can help people make informed choices and live meaningfully until the end of life. What is needed is affordable, holistic home-based care that will keep them comfortable, functional and positively engaged till the end of their lives. Such care can be provided at home is also the most practical option for such patients — so they are not condemned to spend their last days in pain with a poor quality of life.
What is Palliative Care?
Palliative care, as defined by the World Health Organization, is a model that seeks to improve “the quality of life for patients and their families facing the problems associated with a life-threatening illness.” This is the cornerstone of CanSupport’s home care programme.
CanSupport’s unique mission is to embrace and provide continuing support to all those touched by cancer irrespective of their stage of disease or social strata. A majority of CanSupport’s beneficiaries are underprivileged.
CanSupport home care service reaches out to cancer patients and their families when they have no idea where to go. The teams of doctors, nurses and counsellors work together with the caregivers to relieve the physical suffering of the patient as well as address all emotional and spiritual needs. Family caregivers are involved in this process and are taught how to take care of their patients.
CanSupport focuses on the whole person, not just the disease, to give the patient, the best quality of life possible. This is what CanSupport’s home-based palliative care programme is all about.
World Hospice and Palliative Care Day?
World Hospice and Palliative Care Day is a unified day of action to celebrate and support hospice and palliative care around the world. Voices for Hospices is a wave of concerts that takes place on World Hospice and Palliative Care Day every two years. The aim of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2020 is:
· To share our vision to increase the availability of hospice and palliative care throughout the world by creating opportunities to speak out about the issues.
· To raise awareness and understanding of the needs — medical, social, practical, spiritual — of people living with a life-limiting illness and their families.
· To raise funds to support and develop hospice and palliative care services around the world. The theme this year is “Palliative Care: My Care, My Comfort”.
CanSupport, leaders in Palliative Care in North India
Started in 1996 by Harmala Gupta, a cancer survivor, CanSupport fills a critical gap in the care of people with cancer, mostly the underserved, who find it difficult to cope on their own especially when treatments fail. For many this is the lowest point in their lives as they and their families struggle with increasing health issues and mounting expenditures.
Pioneers of home-based palliative care programme in Northern India – Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, CanSupport has grown to become the biggest palliative home care provider in India. In 2017, CanSupport was designated by the World Health Organisation, India, as its “Public Health Champion” of the year. CanSupport also runs two out-patient clinics and daycare services.
CanSupport has 31 palliative home care teams with trained doctors, nurses and counsellors who visit patients, of all ages and genders, in their homes, regularly. The referrals come from the local cancer hospitals, word of mouth and through the cancer helpline that operates five days a week. Compassion alone is not enough. CanSupport combines its mission with the highest level of professional competence.
At any given time, its service reaches 3000 patients in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, together with their families. It has trained thousands of medical and para-medical personnel in this new dimension of healthcare. In addition to its vital home care service, CanSupport has evolved a range of related activities. These include outpatient clinics, nutritional support and special therapies for children. The care is free of charge and includes:
* Factual information empowering patients/families to make informed decisions about their care preferences and goals.
* Comprehensive pain and symptom management to maximise comfort and ability to function.
* Nursing care with the provision of supplies and equipment to aid daily activities of living and reduce dependency.
* Teaching of simple nursing skills to the patient or caregiver.
* Counselling to help with emotional and spiritual issues and addressing other psychosocial concerns.
* Practical support to complete vital life tasks and strengthen relationships with loved ones.
* Networking to mobilise financial and non-financial resources for rehabilitation of destitute families. We believe that people with cancer and their families deserve the highest quality of care and that everyone has the right to live life to the full, especially when their illness may no longer be curable. Since our primary focus is on the underserved, all our services are free. We need your support to continue to fund our services.
Please donate generously. We are thankful to many such well-known figures who have come forward to use their influence to spread the word about our work. You can reach us at our telephone helpline o11-41010539/ 9899011212 or log on to www. cansupport.org to know more about our work, refer a patient and make your donation online.