Bid To Allay Pains And Trauma Of Caregivers On Cancer Awareness Day | Kolkata News

Kolkata: When Tanushri Roy’s 12-year-old son was detected with bone cancer two years ago, the home-maker from Joynagar was shattered. Though she remained strong in front of her son, she was devastated inside. Doctors said the mental suffering of caregivers of cancer patients —they undergo the uncertainty of the outcome of the treatment, the expenses and the pain the patient went through—was tremendous but there was no organized way of addressing it.
To fill the void, a hospital in the city came up with the concept of counselling for cancer caregivers on Tuesday, National Cancer Awareness Day, “The emotional upheaval of a person caring for a cancer patient is humongous. Not everyone can handle the trauma and they need professional help to ease the pain,” said Roy at the inauguration of Monobina Clinic that Medica Superspecialty Hospital started as part of cancer care at Medica Oncology.
Doctors pointed out caregivers, whose family members were put on palliative care, had a tougher time as they knew the person would not be around for too long. “Many a time caregivers’ mental burden is far more than that of patients. The caregivers need professional help,” said Gautam Bandyopadhyay, psychiatry head at Medical College and Hospital.
Senior radiation oncologist Subir Ganguly said Monobina Clinic would offer a healing touch to primary caregivers of cancer patients. “Primary caregivers are often left devastated after the patient’s demise. This clinic aims to help them come out of the grief,” said Ganguly.
In addition to professional psychological counsellors, the bi-weekly clinic will have psychiatrists for caregivers whose stress have deepened into depression. The administration has decided to make consultation free for caregivers even if their patients are being treated in other facilities, like Thakurpukur Cancer Hospital, Tata Medical Centre or Apollo. “We are trying to introduce initiatives to make a difference in cancer care,” said head and neck onco surgeon Saurav Datta, director, Medica Oncology.
Director health services Siddhartha Niyogi said the state was expanding its facilities to save maximum lives. “The entire family is affected. We are exploring ways to provide holistic support to patients and families,” said Ayanabh Debgupta, joint managing director, Medica Group of Hospitals.
We also published the following articles recently