As Vellaiammal climbs down the steps of the bus, a mobile telemedicine centre, at the Natham primary health centre in Dindigul district, holding her mother Veerayee’s hand, there is a smile on her face.
The 26-year old, who actually resembles a child, suffers from dwarfism and mental retardation. She had just had a video chat with a counsellor sitting in Madurai, who gave her two options – employment in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme or training in dairy farming.
Vellaiammal is one of the two children of Veerayee of Erakkapatti, who lost her husband in an accident 16 years back. The son is married but does not want to take care of a disabled sister. “I live only for her and it is my responsibility to ensure her safety,” says the 41-year-old mother. Vellaiammal is among hundreds of the unreached for whom psychiatric treatment has been made possible by the Rural Mental Health Project implemented by the Madurai-based M. S. Chellamuthu Trust and Research Centre in association with Andherihilfe, Bonn, Germany. Tele psychiatry has addressed so many issues in mental health management, from shortage of psychiatrists to people’s affordability. Samidurai (22) from a village near Sendurai was denied treatment as the family could not afford it. Today, he works in a tea shop after regularly attending the community mental health camp. The ‘virtual mental health van’ has been going places, including inaccessible hilly terrain in Madurai, Ramanathapuram and Dindigul districts.
The van is usually used in community mental health camps to provide consultation, identification of illness, decide the medication required by an individual and the course of rehabilitation, according to M. Ramu, Team Leader. In Madurai city, the van is used to create awareness of various types of addiction and means of rehabilitation, especially among youth. “This is very useful in early identification of even mild mental illness. This helps in spreading awareness of positive mental health,” says S. Karthikeyan, psychiatrist.
The van, which is equipped with a computer, a television set and public address system, carries para-medical personnel to the villages from where people interact with psychologists and psychiatrists sitting in Madurai.
