Chennai Pain and Palliative Centre (CPPC) recently relocated its free hospice services to Villivakkam, bringing to a close four years of service from a familiar address in Sholavaram.
In a journey that started in 2014, CPPC has moved campus twice. What began as a volunteering initiative at the Oncology Ward of the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital with the professional support of three nurses, would in 2017 start functioning from Sholavaram as a full-fledged facility with in-patient pain management and relief through what it called ‘Abhayam’.
The terminally-ill patients being cared for at the unit were abandoned by their family members or had none who could take care of them. Its flagship initiative is offering free service at the doorstep of the terminally-ill.
In seven years, CPPC has reportedly reached out to 4000 people with the support of its volunteers. “Except for the health care professionals, drivers, administrative staff and cooks, CPPC consists of volunteers. Of the 200 resident-volunteers registered with us, around 50 help us with field support,” says P Prakash, secretary of CPPC who works with Integral Coach Factory.
“In 2015, we got an ambulance through donation and that made doorstep service easier,” says Prakash. The following year, CPPC received one more ambulance.
“We had 180-200 patients in our database in the early years and we could make at least two visits a month to these homes,” says Prakash.
A few key initiatives that has helped the non-profit be on its feet include empowering volunteers through workshops and trainings and the way its mobilises funds.
A collection box at a tea shall
“We are all trained to help reduce the mental and physical agony that a dying patient is going through, and it begins with showing them that there is someone who cares,” says P T Ali, one of the founders and an entrepreneur.
Families facing financial strain are offered monetary assistance.
“If the patient is having financial problems at home or needs to fund a family member’s education, we try to help them with crowd-funding,” says Ali.
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Besides the medical personnel who handle the medical aspect of hospice care, volunteers take up a variety of roles including locating needy patients, spending time with the terminally ill and fundraising.
Says Ali, “The idea is to interact with the patient and their family to bring a little happiness into their lives.”
Donation boxes
Donation boxes are kept at tea shops and lodges to support CPPC.
“Around 300 tea shops in Chennai have donation boxes, which are an important source of funding. Besides, people contribute on a monthly basis,” says 70-year-old C K Gangadharan, advisor and a resident of Triplicane who does home care in Mylapore and surrounding neighbourhoods.
He says CPPC has a convenor for every area in Chennai who is the point of contact.
The Kerala model
Chennai Pain and Palliative Centre (CPPC) has been inspired by Kerela-based Pain and Palliative Care Society (PPCS) with its community-based hospice care.
PPCS — founded by Dr M R Rajagopal and Dr Suresh Kumar (now Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Community Participation in Palliative care) — at the Institute of Palliative Medicine, Government Medical College in Kozhikode in 1993, is an exemplar of “Neighbourhood Networks in Palliative Care”, an alternative to institutional, hospital-based hospice care.
“The model is popular in Kerala where palliative care centres are run by community-based organisations and NGOs,” says Ali.
The Tamil Nadu government has launched ‘Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam’, a ‘doorstep healthcare’ initiative that eliminates the need for patients to visit hospitals for treating non-communicable diseases. KP Suresh Babu, founder-trustee, says with the support from civil society groups the model can be taken to other districts.
For details on how to volunteer, visit chennaipainandpalliativecare.org
