Abstract
With climate change getting serious, projections indicate impacts on health as obvious. Global call for addressing health concerns are in the fore. Besides, given a bigger challenge of providing rural health care in India with costs and infrastructure challenges on the rise, traditional medicine is seen as an alternative option for improving the health status of the masses. This chapter narrates a public-private partnership model adopted by the Soukya Foundation under the AYUSH programme, is engaged in reviving the traditional health care systems. The chapter analyses various activities and their status; the approach adopted in implementation; strengths and challenges of Soukya Foundation approach; key findings based on a field survey (102 households and 10 focus group discussions) and perceptions of people who have availed treatment at AYUSH Gram DMRC, SOUKYA Foundation, and also offers suggestions towards making it sustainable.
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Notes
- 1.
The American Holistic Health Association (AHHA) describes holistic health as ‘rather than focusing on illness or specific parts of the body, this ancient approach to health considers the whole person and how he or she interacts with his or her environment. It emphasizes the connection of mind, body and spirit. The goal is to achieve maximum well-being, where everything is functioning the very best that is possible’. Mind, body and spirit – these aspects of each patient are considered to be intertwined and essential to achieving optimal health. Human beings are comprised of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual elements is another way of looking at it. It focuses on natural healing.
- 2.
While holistic medicine may incorporate treatments from mainstream health care, drugs and surgery are not the line of first defence. By definition, holistic medicine is about lifestyle changes, non-invasive remedies and improving the flow of a person’s life-force energy, along with enhancing the body’s own ability to heal itself (Wang Chunxin 2017).
- 3.
Anganwadi is a type of rural child care centre in India. They were started by the Indian government in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child Development Services program to combat child hunger and malnutrition. Anganwadi means “courtyard shelter” in Indian languages.
- 4.
Organisational setup and Implementation process
- 5.
Partial funding is provided by Karnataka Government for a period of 1 year 3 months including the establishment cost of Rs 34.45 lakh which is reimbursed after the programme, while the rest of the expenditure is borne by Soukya Foundation. In addition, SOUKYA Foundation, in Memory of Rev. Fr. Mathai Nooranal, has donated a building worth Rs 45 lakh for this purpose and the space for setting up a Health Care Centre is provided by the Government of Karnataka.The Government has also been supportive in providing educational and awareness creation materials - posters and booklets.
- 6.
Jadigenahalli Grama Panchayat has 3 Private medical clinics and 1 Primary Health Centre (PHC). Patients generally visit one of these clinics for treatment. The PHC largely caters to Gynaecology related concerns and hence, the private clinics are preferred to avail of other treatments. Patients from low income groups largely restrict themselves to private clinics, PHC, and government hospitals located in Hoskote or Malur (12 Km Distance), while, patients belonging to high income groups travel to private hospitals in Hoskote as the next best option in terms of proximity and accessibility. Government of Karnataka, with the support of Department of AYUSH, Department of Health and Family Welfare and SOUKYA foundation, a charitable trust based in Bangalore, planned to establish a Rural Health Care Centre in Jadigenahalli, Hoskote Taluk, Bangalore Rural district. This centre was the first of its kind in Rural India with different systems of Medicine like Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy integrated. The AYUSH Grama DMRC, SOUKYA Foundation Started the work process from 2012. SOUKYA Foundation was one among the ten organizations selected under the State Government’s Programme AYUSH. With DMRC, SOUKYA Foundation being close to the PHC, several patients tend to visit it to check an alternative option.
- 7.
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• Mother and Child Care / ANC & PNC Care
This programme mainly Totally, 2 programmes are conducted for Anti Natal Checkup (ANC) and 27 women were treated since March 2013 (see Annex). The Anti Natal Checkup has been started in Ayush Grama DMRC, SOUKYA Foundation, from March 13th 2014. Till now, two checkups have been conducted with a total of 11 women tested and given Ayurveda medicines (Sukaprasawa: 2 tea spoon early in the morning on empty stomach and suggested to use warm water after taking medicines). In order to make them develop a habit of doing these exercises, doctors provide awareness about the frequency of C-section surgery due to irregular physical exercises.
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Prevention of Viral Diseases
AYUSH approach towards prevention of viral diseases is holistic in that it works on, etc. Trainings are conducted for creating awareness about cleanliness, personal hygiene through daily bath, washing hands before food and need for using toilets. Totally, 124 trainings have been conducted so far. Besides this, training is also provided in the preparation of natural mosquito repellents from locally available plants such as Neem and marigold plants. About 190 homes covering 760 people have been given preventive Homeopathy medicine.
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Vector Borne Disease
This programme aims to create awareness about vectors. A total of 3 training programmes have been conducted in Jadigenahalli, Vadigenahalli and K. B. Hosahalli. On an average, 30 -40 people attended the programme. The programme covered awareness about (i) Type of vector borne diseases; (ii) Incubation period; (iii) Manifestation of diseases; (iv) Complication of disease; (v) Measures to control the disease; (vi) Cultivation of medicinal plants like Marigold, Eucalyptus, Tulasi etc around houses to prevent mosquitoes as fragrance of these plants helps reduce mosquitoes; (vii) Training is given to prepare homemade repellents using home ingredients like Bajee, Vidanga, camphor, sambharani powder, cow dung (dried and fine powder), gomuthra, arka etc; all these have to be mixed and made into a 5cm long stick that can last for 35 min.
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Medicinal Kit
Medical kits that can cure minor ailments costing medicines worth Rs.300 were provided to 200 families.
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De-Addiction Promotion Programs
A good number of patients have been treated in DMRC, SOUKYA Foundation, through Yoga and Homeopathy medicines. The addicted people are identified during personal visits by Doctors and ASHA workers. Alcoholic patients who take the initiative and visit DMRC, SOUKYA Foundation, are treated in the hospital while some unwilling patients are treated by doctors through personal visits and persuasion.
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Geriatric Care
Special Medical Camps are conducted to treat the elderly. This programme has been recently introduced with the patients treated so far numbering 393.
Goshala Nirmana was initiated with people actively participating and Goshala Training but was dropped as it had not been included in the action plan of the Department. Further, people wanted funding for establishing Goshalas.
People attending yoga classes
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- 8.
Role of ASHA workers – Motivating patients to visit DMRC, SOUKYA Foundation, through door-to-door visit every day, Identify persons in need of health care, advising them to visit DMRC, SOUKYA Foundation, for treatment, Conducting patient Survey and reporting the common diseases observed across the villages to DMRC, SOUKYA Foundation doctors, Collect details of patients – name, age, sex, disease type, with signature entered in their daily register before reporting to the Doctors once in a week, recommending home remedies for minor diseases, promoting health and hygiene, pooling villagers for medical camps and other activities conducted by Soukya. Participating in camps and supporting doctors in conducting camps, attending training programmes and meetings conducted by Soukya.
- 9.
The Indian government started Anganwadi in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child Development Services programme to combat child hunger and malnutrition for children aged between 2 and 5 years. Several programmes are taken up under this scheme viz. education, nutrition supply, supplementation, pre-school activities
- 10.
A self-help group (SHG) is a village based financial intermediary usually composed of 10–20 local women or men. Members make small regular savings contributions over a few months until there is enough capital with the group to begin lending. Self -help groups may be registered or unregistered as micro financial institutions for community action.
- 11.
Youth organisations in villages are private nonprofit organisations dedicated to helping emotionally and behaviorally-troubled villagers and their families.
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https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-americas/what-ancient-mayans-can-teach-us-about-health-and-healing-001220 - Accessed on 23-1-19
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Manasi, S., Raju, K.V. (2020). Holistic Health for Well-Being. In: Coping Mechanisms for Climate Change in Peri-Urban Areas . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18517-6_3
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