“MARANATHA”
COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

DEPARTMENT

A PICTURAL DOCUMENTATION OF ALL THE COMMUNITY BASED INITIATIVES UNDERTAKEN AND INHOUSE COMMITMENTS.

THIS DEPARTMENT CATERS TO ALL THE INITIATIVES OF PADHAR HOSPITAL THAT ARE COMMUNITY BASED FOR THE WELFARE OF 75 VILLAGES.

 THIS IS AN EXERCISE OF BRIDGE BUILDING BETWEEN PADHAR HOSPITAL AND THE COMMUNITY THAT SURROUNDS THE HOSPITAL. THIS IS PADHAR HOSPITAL’S SOCIAL AND SPIRITUAL COMMITMENT FOR THE COMMUNITY WITH UTMOST LOYALTY AND DEDICATION.

THIS DEPARTMENT IS COMMITTED TO LIFT UP BURDENS AND RESTORE HOPE TO ALL THE VULNERABLE PEOPLE IN THE RURAL COMMUNITY THAT SORRUNDS THE HOSPITAL.
 

BACKGROUND:

Community-based work had long been an integral part of the mandate of Padhar Hospital in its initial days. A large number of projects spanning a wide array of health and related issues were undertaken in the areas surrounding Padhar. However, an independent Community Health department was lacking to coordinate efforts, and the many different projects functioned independently. From November 2015 onwards, Mr. Bappa Mukherjee was assigned to coordinate all the community initiatives of the hospital, and to supervise and monitor all the field workers of the hospital. Thus was born the “Maranatha Community Initiatives department”. For the first time, all the community outreach projects were integrated and coordinated under the same department and the same team.

 

A brief report from 16th November 2015 till 30th December 2016:

Three projects were ongoing from before January 2016, namely Community Mental Health (Project Shifa), CMAI Project and Tripti Project. The significant new assignment undertaken in this period was the 10 Medical Camps in the community as part of Christmas outreach programme beginning from 30th November till 12th December.

10 camps were duly arranged in 10 different villages spanning ten consecutive days where a total of 996 patients were evaluated, and medicines were prescribed. Per patient expenses came up to mere Rs 13.90. 100 quilts were also distributed in these 10 underprivileged villages where the medical camps were held.

 

Report from January 2016 to June 2016

MASTER SURVEY & DOCUMENTATION

This massive work was undertaken so that Padhar Hospital have the record both in hard copy and in the computer, every possible details on each individual covering all the 75 villages that the hospital had decided to adopt and cater to the holistic need that the community lacks in terms of health and empowerment. In this period 5626 families were documented and along with this all the activities done in the community were documented.

  

COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH PROJECT (Project “Shifa”)

This project is the brain child of Dr Johann Ebenezer, our hospital’s Psychiatrist who has this mission to reach out to all the people in the community in all the 75 villages who have mental health issues from severe disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and epilepsy to milder common issue like depression and anxiety disorders. (For more details of this please see “Shifa (Community Mental Health” section of this website).

4 camps are held in each month, once every week followed by fortnightly follow-ups by our team of service providers to ensure that adequate follow up and compliance for those being given medications in the field. 

 

CMAI PROJECT

This project is sponsored by the Christian Medical Association of India (CMAI) and is all about “Community Based Mother And Child Healthcare & Development”. Under this project 10 village are covered. All information that the project requires is collected from the community by ten selected volunteers from among the village Anganwadi workers. The Community Initiatives team monitors this work. All-women Self-Help Groups are set up to work towards self-sustainability through income generating projects for those women who are in need to help empower them. From June, the number of villages has been increased from 10 to 20 where each volunteer is to undertake the responsibility of 2 villages each instead of 1. This move was simply to reach out to more who could benefit from this project.

 

TRIPTI PROJECT

This project is sponsored by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) and under this project issues like nutrition, hygiene, best cooking techniques, clean energy for cooking, deforestation, the use of bio-mass pellets as alternative cooking fuel is advocated and promoted to the rural community covering 75 villages.

In the last 6 months, 41 community awareness meetings were conducted in village anganwadis, primary and middle schools.Efforts are being made to manufacture our own innovative cooking biomass pellets stove so that the commoners in the community can afford to buy it and use it and restrain from cutting tress and damaging the environment.

 

SARPANCH MEETINGS

This initiative was undertaken with an understanding that to work in a rural community, cooperation from the village Sarpanches (locally-elected political workers) was of much importance and need. A new project was planned to form and organise community clubs where the people of the community – in each Panchayat – will come to one platform and take initiatives for their own overall welfare and empowerment. To realise these aims, we had to reach out to the Panchayat Sarpanches and other village elders for their participation and support. The philosophy behind this was simple: that self help is the best help.

This is a unique initiative to develop the temperament to take up challenges to work on their own resources towards their empowerment, be it health-related, socio-cultural growth or economic empowerment. The community service providers reached out in the first phase to 10 Panchayats and all the Sarpanches of these Panchayats gave consent letters supporting the cause. So far meetings were held with Sarpanches of 9 Panchayats, covering a large section of the rural community that surrounds Padhar Hospital.

 

Community patients brought in for treatment.

The main purpose of this initiative is to bring in as many patients who need medical interventions as possible from the community directly by the community service providers.
This is also an endeavour to build up a positive rapport with the community so that they may come to the hospital for treatment and not go to the quacks. The purpose is to educate them to understand the real issues involved in the treatment of various ailments and to prevent them from getting inappropriate treatment from those who are not professionally equipped. This is also serves to generate resources for the hospital from the treatment cost.

 

NUTRITION REHABILITATION CENTER (NRC)

The main purpose of this project and initiatives is to bring in to the hospital malnourished children along with their mothers for proper treatment and diet so that the health conditions improve.

 

EYE PATIENTS COORDINATION

The main objective of this initiative is in bringing in patients with eye problems so that they are properly treated.Patients for free eye camps as well as general patients are brought in to the Hospital by the community service providers.

 

OUT-PATIENT COOPERATION AND COUNSELING

The main purpose of this in-house initiative is to help the patients who come to the hospital for treatment that they are helped to get their registration done and proper counselling and guidance given so that they have no problem in dealing with hospital formalities and procedures.

 

STRESS MANAGEMENT WORKSHOPS

The main purpose of this initiative is to organise stress management workshops in different business houses be it banks, government offices, Industries and in Educational institutions. One hour duration workshops are conducted by Mr. Bappa Mukherjee with the participants free of charge. This is a welfare initiative of Padhar Hospital in reaching out to the semi-urban community with an objective that all may lead a healthy life overcoming their areas of stress that may lead to different psychological problems.

 

PREVENTIVE HEALTH CARE

The main objective of this out-reach initiative in the semi-urban community within the reach of the hospital is to get preliminary basic medical tests done for willing participants so that they may know their health status and if any are problems detected then they can intervene at the earliest and thus avoid unnecessary delays and complications. Blood samples are collected under a package of Rs 1000 per individual where basic blood tests are conducted at Padhar Hospital’s pathology laboratory. The blood samples are collected and some basic physical examinations are conducted at the very place where the participants belong and reports are also provided to them with the physician’s report attached.

Apart from promoting awareness about general health and well-being in surrounding semi-urban areas, it also promotes the hospital and helps in generating resources for the hospital.

 

PAMPHETETS DISTRIBUTION EXERCISE

The main objective is to promote the various camps that the hospital organises time to time through dissemination of information through pamphlets. These are distributed widely via news papers and at times distributed at market places and in other places of public gatherings. Door to door distribution is also done in our target area of 75 villages, making it sure that the information reaches to each family member in the target communities, just as the distribution through print media ensures dissemination in areas beyond.

 

COMMUNITY CLUB INITIATIVES

Under these initiatives efforts are taken to establish community-based club houses where all those willing from that particular community can join as members and participate in different programmes that Padhar Hospital conducts in the community. Moreover, initiatives are taken by the club members themselves to cater to the need of their own community in terms of holistic health be it physical, mental, social, economical and spiritual needs.

For the first time, such club formation with the people of the community came up in the Dolidhana panchayat where an old unused school building was acquired by the hospital through proper process getting the consent from government authorities.

Cancer screening camps and community alcohol detox camps are held in this club house from time to time. This is like an extent ion of Padhar Hospital in the community itself.

Similar plans are there for other Panchayats as well. Our target is to reach out to all the Panchayats covering 75 villages.

 

FUND RAISING INITIATIVE FROM THE COMMUNITY

The main objective of this initiative is to raise funds from the community itself for the initiatives that are undertaken under community initiatives. This is a new philosophy at Padhar where an effort is made to make the community responsible for their welfare and active participation for their own wellbeing. At present funds are mainly collected for the community based detoxification camps for the poor, marginalised alcoholics of a particular panchayat setup.

The very first detoxification camp that was held in Dolidhana Panchayat area was conducted with 80% of the expenses being taken from this collection, the remaining being provided by the hospital (through the Good Samaritan Fund). Moreover the community at large becomes responsible to follow-up and monitor those who have gone through the detoxification process so that they remain sober and clean. 

We are getting a good response from the community. The ethos of this initiative is promoting the concept “of the people, by the people, for the people”. The community too is equally responsible for their own welfare by their own initiative, with Padhar Hospital as a facilitator providing services that will help them in their own holistic empowerment.

 

COMMUNITY BASED DETOXIFICATION CAMP

This initiative is mainly to help the marginalised poor in the community who are alcohol dependent, thus hampering their health and being a major cause of disturbances in the community. This is also a way to help those who just cannot afford to go to an institution like a de-addiction center for their treatment.  Alcoholic Anonymous group for the first time will be introduced in this part of India among the rural community to ensure that the recovery process sustains and through them others are encouraged to take up the challenge to change and come back to the mainstream of the community.

 

INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST DRUG ABUSE AND ILLICIT TRAFFICKING

The project in-charge, Sri Bappa Mukherjee of community initiatives department was invited by the Betul district police department as the main speaker at the function that they had organized to commemorate International day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking on 26th June, 2016.