The Pain and Palliative Care society will construct a shelter home and a day-care centre for the terminally ill. The centre will be set up at Olarikkara, near here.
The in-patient wing of the Pain and Palliative Care Society, currently functioning at the old district hospital building, has the facility to treat only 10 patients. It does not have the facility to take care of the terminally ill, who need long-term treatment. Food, medical equipment, and service will be free at the centre.
Patients will be admitted on the basis of their social, physical, and mental health parameters. This will be the first such centre in the district, Pain and Palliative Care Centre sources said.
“When there is a critically ill patient, it affects the economic balance of the family. The family members will not be able to go for work as they have to take care of the patients. This pushes the family into debt traps,” they said.
The Thrissur Pain and Palliative Care Centre started functioning in 1997. It has so far provided support for more than 20,000 terminally ill people suffering from cancer, renal problems, paraplegia and geriatric problems.
The new centre will have three floors with 4,500-sq-ft area. The expected cost of construction is Rs.1 crore.
