Email Address
info@missionvivekananda.org.in
Phone Number
+91 8589991227
Our Location
Agali ,Palakkad-678581
Community Health Projects
Community Health Projects
Beyond the hospital services, Swami Vivekananda Medical Mission Trust has started several community health programs and initiatives to offer a more holistic care, provide targeted treatment for special conditions, create awareness on various health issues among the tribal communities of Attappady. Some of the initiatives are:
- Village Health Workers
- Community Mental Health Project
- Alcohol De-addiction Project
- Adolescent Girls’ Health Project
- Sickle Cell Disease Project
Village Health Workers
Educated youth from tribal villages are selected and appointed as Village Health Workers. They are trained to give first aid, organize medical camps, conduct health education classes etc and appointed as Village Health workers. They are also given first aid kits. The VHW help patients to seek medical advice in time, organise sanitation campaigns in their villages, motivate patients with eye problems to reach eye camps, support mentally ill patients and their families.Altogether the VHW provide first aid to more than
Community Mental Health Project
There is a very high prevalence of mental disorders among the tribes of Attappady. The problem has not been subjected to scientific study and analysis by any agency so far. A comprehensive survey conducted in 2010 in 165 hamlets of Attappady had brought out the high number of mentally ill people in each hamlet. The survey was inaugurated by Dr.P.R. Karunakaran District Medical Officer, Palakkad on 15th January 2010. The survey was conducted by about 60 Village Mental Health Volunteers.
Alcohol De-Addiction Project
Alcohol addiction is a very common problem in the tribal villages of Attappady. The wide spread addiction to alcohol and other substances is a complex social issue with legal, socio-economic, psychological and medical ramifications.
The dependence on alcohol disrupts the family, finances, social life and occupation of the individual. There have been several instances of suicides and domestic violence relating to alcohol dependence and addiction. In order to combat this social evil in Attappady, a sustained medico-social intervention is needed.
Adolescent Girls’ Health Project
The adolescent girls health project has been initiated to bring improvements in the overall health and nutritional status of tribal adolescent girls of Attappady. One of the reasons for the high infant mortality rate in Attappady is poor health and prevalence of anemia in adolescent girls and women. The project involves creating adolescent girls peer groups in each tribal village and imparting behavioral change communication through these groups. The project also involves monitoring growth parameters of the girls and providing few dietary interventions in the form of millet-based nutri-mix powder, improved consumption of vegetables through kitchen garden and consumption of eggs through backyard poultry for girls with low levels of growth indicators.
The project is being supported under the CSR Program of UST. The project in its first phase is being implemented in 30 tribal villages across three panchayats of Attappady covering 300 girls in the first year. It is planned to be scaled up to 60 villages in the second year.
Sickle Cell Disease Project
Sickle Cell Anaemia is a disease caused by a defective Haemoglobin molecule in the Red blood cell (RBC). It is a congenital disease transmitted to the child if both parents carry the gene for the disease. The affected persons have defective growth, repeated attacks of severe anemia, repeated attacks of severe pain, infections and possibility of early death.
Sickle Cell Disease Care Centre was inaugurated at our hospital on 26th January 2012 by Dr.V.H.Sankar, Genetic Medicine Specialist from Government Medical College Thiruvananthapuram.
Palliative Care
Swami Vivekananda Medical Mission started a Home care Project focussing on tribal villages in Attappady. The project aims to provide home care treatment and support to poor mentally ill patients, elderly persons, bedridden patients and those with chronic illnesses. The project was inaugurated by Sri V.K.Somasundaram, President of Navothana Parishath and Vibhag Sanghchalak by lighting the lamp. A Bolero jeep donated by BPCL, Kochi for this project was flagged off by Sri V.P.S.Menon , President of Swami Vivekananda Medical Mission. The team comprising of a nurse, social workers and village health workers will make daily visits to tribal villages for providing home care.
Hamlets from all three Panchayats are included in this program. At present, regular home visits are conducted for 36 beneficiaries with different ailments in 18 different tribal hamlets through this program.
Community Maternity Care Program
- Total number of Pregnant mothers from 83 villages is 194.
- Out of 194, 102 Pregnant mothers are identified as high-risk cases, which includes Underweight patients, Anemia, Sickle Cell Anemia, Hypothyroid, Pedel Edema, Hypertension, Obese, Diabetes Mellitus, Hyperthyroid, etc.,
- Pregnant mothers with high risks are frequently monitored by community nurses & social workers.
- 7-Day Initial Staff Training was conducted in the month of November, 2022.
- Two-Day Village Health Workers training at three panchayaths has completed.
- One Awareness class on Maternal and Infant Health was completed at Boothampalli.
