Summary of Talk at the Seminar
CTH was invited in Seminar arranged by Ashraya. Mamata and
Padma have taken all the responsibility on their own shoulders. They along with
technical help from Nagesh presented CTH in the seminar, which generated lot of
interest among the large group of audience. Please read more at our Blog site :
Some members of CTH
attended a seminar, hosted by Ashraya at Bangalore International Centre on
Saturday the 22nd June,2013.
The aim of the Seminar was:
To provide exposure and learning on innovative approach to dealing with cancer
and mental illness.
Need to sensitize the medical staff on the vulnerability of
the patients.
To network with self help and support groups working with
the cancer patients.
To understand the law on the right of cancer patients .
These were some of the issues discussed and the speakers
were:
Dr. Ajay Kumar-M.D- HCG—who stressed on the financial
constraints bothering the cancer
patients and the need for quality care, He also placed importance on early
detection which will cut down treatment time and also cost, to long drawn procedure
treating patients who are in later stages.
Dr. Nomita Chandy –Founder of Ashraya-herself a cancer
warrior spoke of the aim of the seminar in exhorting doctors to treat patients
as a person and not look through them while discussing the treatment
modalities. She spoke about her experience as a patient, and how she felt being
treated (even thought she is a doctor) as a non-thinking person and her
feelings at not being consulted in the planning of the protocol. There was pain
in her voice as she recounted her experience of being discounted as a
functional adult.
Dr.Brinda Seetharam – Psycho Oncologist-Founder of Coper-an
organization providing Psycho- oncological care, spoke on the necessity of
training in this field. She supported her statement by facts and figures and
also mentioned the paucity of trained personnel to help the increasing number
of people affected by cancer.
Dr.Uttara Vidya Sagar – Founder of Viswas Counselling Centre
and Viveka – spoke on the impact on the family of those person suffering with
chronic illness. She also spoke about the need for support at primary level
(CTH).
Mr.Randhawa – CEO-Karunashraya- stressed on the need for sensitive
communication involving tone, body language and particularly eye contact. ( We
need to keep these in mind).
Padma Mahadev & Mamatha Shetty spoke about the work of
CTH and mamatha spoke about her experience as a cancer patient and her strong
will poser which helped her to take charge of her treatment.
Outcome of our talk – CTH was made known to more people. Our
work touched many and Dr.Brinda assured us that she’ll send us patients and we
could also do the same. We emphasized that our counseling is at grass root
level and definitely we will be sending people in acute distress to experts.
