Bengaluru cancer patients who are unable to travel to hospital can now receive palliative care at home through a service being provided by the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, its director Dr R. Krishnappa said.
The home-based service is intended to help patients manage pain and other symptoms while reducing the physical and mental stress associated with cancer treatment. It is initially being offered within a 15-kilometre radius, with plans to expand the coverage in the coming days, according to an institutional statement.
A mobile van is being used to deliver the service. The team will include specialist doctors, nurses and other medical staff, who will visit patients and consult with them and their family members. The team will provide the treatment required during the visit and supply available medicines where necessary, Dr Krishnappa said.
The service has been organised as part of the institute’s pain relief and palliative care programme. It is aimed at patients for whom travelling to a hospital for treatment is difficult or not possible. The institute has not disclosed the number of patients currently covered or the schedule for individual home visits.
The institute has also introduced music and yoga therapy as part of its broader palliative care programme. Dr Krishnappa said these therapies were intended to support patients’ mental health along with the management of physical pain.
According to the statement, many patients experience persistent pain, anxiety, depression, fear, sleeplessness, loneliness and uncertainty about the future during treatment. The institute said therapies that provide mental relief are therefore being added alongside medicines and other clinical care.
The home-care service and the role of palliative treatment will be highlighted through an awareness programme in Bengaluru on October 10, organised by the institute’s pain relief and palliative care department to mark Hospice and Palliative Care Day. The next stated step is to extend the service beyond the initial 15-kilometre operating area.
