Activities of the Society(Lake Gardens Maa Sharada Welfare Society, Kolkata)
Lake Gardens Maa Sharada Welfare Society, Kolkata is a Registered Society and a non-profit organization working in the State of West Bengal since 2011. Within short span of time, the society achieved to mobilize its limited resources for its commitment to work with marginalized sections of the society and empower them to attain dignified quality life. The society is composed of people from various professions who have passion to make impact on economically vulnerable section of the society.
Over the last six years, Lake Gardens Maa Sharada Welfare , Kolkata has been working relentlessly to bring about qualitative behavioural change and impact lives of over one thousand people. Its bottom-up approach of inclusive development has changed lives of many and has led the path in sustainable development. The growing population and the changing demography have created a vacuum for skilled professionals in the field of care giving sector. The State of West Bengal has tremendous human resources which if mobilized in proper direction can fill the vacuum. The Lake Gardens Maa Sharada Welfare Society, Kolkata’s care giving programme recognizes this need and believes that young unemployed men and women can be mobilised toward care giving service sector. This will help not only this section of people to earn a better living but will also help to increase in access of healthcare for elderly people. The care giving Programme which is successfully running for last 3 years, itself covers around (80) youth from different community background, in the age group of 24 years. We, in fact, believe in case of accidents and emergency one health care provider/ health assistant should have at least know minimum proper knowledge and first aid to have the following skills:-
1. Physiotherapy
(for bedridden patients suffering viz, paralysis, accidents, fractures, old age, etc.)
2. Proper unsterile dressing (for the need of old bedsore, burns, post operative infections, different wounds, etc.)
3. Bedside round the clock attendant. (For the 24 X 7 attendant maintaining records and datas like input/output, BP, Sugar, ECG, temperature, pulse, urine stool, etc, along with providing injections/ I.V. drip, S.C. and I.M. injections, blood collections and in emergency, direct communication to consulting doctors for further management.).
4. Counselling of old patients. (old aged people at homes and their houses while they need frequent counselling and assistance for their outdoor works like, shopping, banking, walking and health tour).
5. New born baby care. (Basic need and skill for comprehensive care of new born (0-3 years) with their mother dealing with the day-to-day complications.
6. Basic knowledge of Computer. Day to day simple works of computer knowledge helps the caregiver updated services of patients.
We have been engaged in providing services for the benefit of old aged poor lonely people who could not get proper care at the houses due to unskilled manpower to look after them. In fact, large number of senior citizens is now staying at their houses lonely and isolated due to very less number of family members. Many of their children are staying abroad or away from them. They are prone to medical emergency frequently. Due to poor medical care at their housed they fail to take medicine on time or keeping the medical datas for the notice of their consultant doctors. As a result, many of the old people are forced to be admitted frequently facing huge financial burdens frequently. Although they have been in panic for frequent admission but due to poor caregiver their life becomes miserable. Doctors can visit once or twice in a month similarly trained nurse; could be available or affordable for a week or a month, but non constantly for years. Thus the need of caregiver comes in existence.
A caregiver or carer is an unpaid or paid person who helps another individual with impairment with his or her activities of daily living. Any person with health impairment might use care giving services to address their difficulties. Care giving is most commonly used to address impairments related to old age, disability, a disease, or a mental disorder.
Typical duties of a caregiver might include taking care of someone who has a chronic illness or disease; managing medications or taking to doctors and nurses on behalf of someone; helping to bath or dress; someone who is frail or disable; or taking care of household chores, meals or bills for someone who cannot do these things alone.
With increasingly ageing populations in all developed societies, the role of caregivers has been increasingly recognised as an important one, both functionally and economically. Many organisations which provide support for persons with disabilities have developed various forms of support for carers as well. Likewise we train for good quality caregivers.
After training, their services are economic, manageable and easily available. The phase of increasing demand of “Ayas”, in every house of old people justifies the basic need of caregivers. But they are unskilled, illiterate and many of them are irresponsible. On the contrary caregivers at our society are trained by doctors, experienced nursing teachers, physiotherapists, dieticians and psychotherapists with a view to give comprehensive care of old aged people in affordable price. Caregivers are neither ayas nor nurses but in between them giving the maximum services of both with human face and dignity. Since inception, i.e., from 2011 the society has been associated with the following, works and responsibility for the benefit of the society.
Care Giver Training Programme
Care Giver/ Nursing training for the bed ridden old patients at old age homes, poor villagers and people of slum areas at free cost during the course of training.
It is a matter of fact, the old aged people have been increasing many fold during last decade due to many reasons. Moreover, huge numbers of around 15% of population of India are not only old aged but they need social, psychological and day to day medical support. Due to the changing scenario of the society, many of the old people are neglected within their family also. They not only need medical facility, but, most of them need regular routine medical check up, care during treatment at day-to-day work, with services of caregiver of human face.
Our society with a very limited resource but on the basis of services, doctors of different specialities, (9 in numbers), with few senior nurses and paramedical instructors, do organise a comprehensive training camp to make a work force for the comprehensive care to old people suffering from old age diseases, locomotors impaired diseases totally neglected in the society and poor as well.
Caregivers are trained primarily to stay at the bedside of the patients, assisting the patients, collecting the day to day data’s, different health care data’s like measuring BP, sugar, temperature, total input-output chart, recording level of consciousness, providing physiotherapy, maintain nutritional chart of diet, assisting the patient to maintain personal hygiene, feeding and nursing them. Considering their training done comprehensively, they become important tool for doctor and patients. Some of them also learnt to assist to literate the old people to learn recharging bills, collecting digital datas from their phones and computers having a very important human face.
During the internship training programme, trainees are deputed to different old age homes, hospitals, poor individual, neglected patients, houses free of cost for a period of three months under the supervision of doctors as a part of their practical training. Emphases are being made specifically to make the trainee to care the patients with love and human touch so that bondage could be made and patients automatically depend on them. Like as his/her close relative.
Society is giving training on the subject of health assistant/care giver for consecutive three years and it is continuing. This Training Programme is being conducted under the leadership of Dr. Shyama Prasad Roy, eminent Geriatric Consultant Physician of Kolkata along with Doctors, assistant Nursing Teachers, Dietician, Counsellors and eminent physiotherapists. Our Faculty also comprises of experienced surgeons, and nursing teachers of medical colleges. The trainees are comprehensively trained for caring of old disabled persons as well as newly born child and mother care while getting training of :-
a) Dementia
b) Alzheimer’s disease
c) Physiotherapy of paralysis, locomotive and Parkinson’s disorder patients.
d) Antiseptic dressing wounds, bedsores, burns etc.
e) Counselling of geriatric patients (by psycho analyst)
f) Collection of blood and intravenous transfusion frequently needed at patient’s
house and hospitals.
g) Comprehensive care of bedside of patients measuring different data’s and day- day functions.
h) Audio-Visual Training by doctors and technicians while showing and updating the training at best hospitals in the world like Singapore, France, etc., our classes.
i) Practical classes of physiotherapy with manual and instruments.
j) Personality development classes to deal with the critical patients with love and care, basic computer training for collecting and sharing different datas of patients.
In fact, after training, many of them are being employed in different hospitals and Nursing Homes and individual house of patient. The Training in fact, is free of charge except few minor materials purchase – dependent on donations like you and other well wishers.
In this connection, it is reiterated that Health Assistant/ Care Giver Training Programme is being conducted for imparting training to the unemployed youth so that they may be trained as skilled worker in the health arena and get the opportunity of job.
It is an open secret, thousands of AYA Centres coming out daily in existence just on the basis of need of patients at cheap rate. None can deny the need of such care of mass majority of patients who cannot afford to stay at hospitals/ nursing homes constantly at temporary rehabilitation. But Ayas can be available at cheap rate but they can neither deliver any meaningful services to the patients nor able to show any human face in dealing with the helpless patients. We are encouraging our training of care giver who are neither aya nor nurse but in between them giving service of both with a very nominal price and gentle behaviour.
After theoretical training with audio visual system, the trainees are being sent for taking the practical working in the hospitals and super speciality nursing homes. In such context, our Society has arranged for tying up with the Good Samaritan Hospital at Park Circus, Kolkata and Super Speciality Nursing homes namely, The All Asia Medical Institute, Kolkata, Garcha Road, Kolkata – 700029 and New Town Nursing Home at Baguihati, Kolkata. They also are sent for internship at various Old Age Home for practical training as well as to Binapani Geriatric Care, Jadavpur.
Health screening camp
Society organise medical screening and awareness camp at slum and remote poor areas of West Bengal. With limited resource, our doctors and nurses and trainee caregivers attend different medical camps as a part of the training as well to serve the poor’s. In some of the camps provide investigations like ECG, spidometry, BMD, different blood test along with check up of different speciality (Eye, ENT, medicine surgery orthopaedics, dentists, etc.). Now on the basis of support of different organisation, and medical companies we provide free medicine, insulin, free check up and free investigation at the camp, to make the programme as a part of comprehensive health care periodically conducted by Maa Sharada Welfare Society.
Training of stitching and embroidery
Poor villagers sending their small girls and women to learn free training of Maa Sharada Welfare Society. Experienced trainers train them free of cost with a view to support the society of poor isolated old people staying at slums, working household works as an alternative livelihood so that they can become financially self employed. This programmes has been running since our organisation started its function.
Awareness Camp
Periodical awareness programmes for dreadful diseases which varies in different season and need public awareness. Our society with limited resource has been trying to make the people aware about spread of different dreadful diseases. For instance, Malaria, Chikun Gunia, Dengue are endemic and many a times become beyond control if awareness is not comprehensive by door to door campaign with audio- visual awareness programme and screening camp.Poor villagers sending their small girls and women to learn free training of Maa Sharada Welfare Society. Experienced trainers train them free of cost with a view to support the society of poor isolated old people staying at slums, working household works as an alternative livelihood so that they can become financially self employed. This programmes has been running since our organisation started its function.
Assistant to Thalasaemia patients
With a very limited resource our society has been engaged in assisting known Thalasaemia patients with arranging of blood for their affected children and screening of the pregnant mothers with a history of either of the parent’s positive Thalasaemia in blood. With a view to make more people aware, the society is engaged in educating the people in different medical camps by presentation of audio visual, power point projections. Poor villagers sending their small girls and women to learn free training of Maa Sharada Welfare Society. Experienced trainers train them free of cost with a view to support the society of poor isolated old people staying at slums, working household works as an alternative livelihood so that they can become financially self employed. This programmes has been running since our organisation started its function.
Drawing and Painting classes
Teaching of drawing and painting to poor children of slum areas and many villages particularly the children of house hold workers are being regularly taught painting and drawings at our centre twice a week along with a centre at Lake Gardens areas (jointly organise).
Vocational Training
Preparation of candle and agarbatti as a professional training - Society is imparting training for preparation of the candle to the needy candidates those who are being trained here for manufacturing candle and agarbatti and thereby they become self-sufficient to learn for their livelihood.
Donating support to the poor people during festivals and winters
On various festive occasions, society used to donate blankets in winter seasons and the clothes and garments in the festive seasons i.e. Id-Uz- Zuha, Sharod Utsav, etc., in the remote areas of West Bengal viz, Basanti, Kultali, Pandua, etc. from fund of donations from personal sources.
In consistence of the above activities, society has organised medical camps has been associated with various old age homes such as “Sahamormi” at Dhakuria and Harinavi, Sonarpur, South 24 Parganas “Paras Padma” at Sonarpur (Mokrampur), a home for cerebral palsy patient at remote village at south 24 parganas. These all requires fund for organising such camps.
On the basis of above facts and circumstances it is obvious to maintain the quality, sustained efforts should be made for the society more sensitive for the service of poor, needy, isolated and neglected people.
Under Community Development Programme, there has been impact on the lives of around 100 women through women empowerment programme, 500 villagers through humanitarian aid and around 200 children through vocational training (painting, stitching, Dup stick preparation etc).
Apart from above, LGMSWS, Kolkata trains the needy women to learn the embroidery work. Poor children are given the Drawing lesson by expert Drawing faculty. In festive season and winter the clothes are distributed and winter dresses are distributed in different areas of West Bengal. Lastly it was distributed at Basanti, 24 Parganas (south), Nimpith (Kaikhali, Sunderban), 24 Parganas(South), Mokrampur, 24 Parganas(south), a home at Dhakuria and Sonarpur, a home at Ariadaha, Baranagar and this year 2017, it was done at extreme Sunderban area Hingalganj at North 24 Parganas .
These all activities are continuing for the social work and social assistance with the active participation of the members of the Society and with their good wishes. In near future, Lake Gardens Maa Sharada Welfare Society, Kolkata may also take other important role for the welfare of the society at large and we expect good wishes from the well-wishers also.
