E-Paper
Yerawada mental hosp to reunite long-stay patients with family
The RMH has tied with Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation, Jagruti Rehabilitation Centre and Kinara Old age home
In order to solve the issue of over crowding, the Regional Mental Hospital (RMH), Yerawada has tied up with three private organisations to rehabilitate and reunite patients that have totally recovered and can live an independent life with their families.
The RMH has tied with Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation, Jagruti Rehabilitation Centre and Kinara Old age home.The officials have been able to rehabilitate 39 patients and reunite 68 patients with their families, said the officials.
Dr Geeta Kulkarni, medical superintendent of RMH, said, the overcrowding of patients at the hospital due to long-stay patients is a hurdle to providing quality care to inmates. “The inmates aged between 15-years and 55-years are sent for rehabilitation and reunion at Shraddha foundation and they have reunited 12 patients with linguistic barrier and 18 are rehabilitated by them. Elderly patients aged above 55-years are sent to Kinara old age home and six patients have been rehabilitated there. Fifteen long-stay patients aged less than 55 are rehabilitated at Jagruti rehabilitation centre.”
The RMH currently has 1,033 inmates, out of which 577 are male and 456 are female. Almost 550 to 600 inmates here are rotational patients who at regular intervals get admitted and discharged.
“The patients who are finalised for rehabilitation are then trained for self-care for three months before sending them,” Dr Kulkarni added.
Dr H S Gosavi, psychiatrist at RMH, informed that rehabilitation cannot happen in all patients due to medical and legal reasons. In cases of medical reasons, chronic patients cannot be rehabilitated. “The patients with suicidal tendencies, aggressive or violent cannot be considered for rehabilitation. Some families do not accept patients and do not give consent for rehabilitation. However, there are several cases in which the patients are abandoned by the kin but still don’t want them to be rehabilitated.”
Success tales
A 32-year-old female patient, brought to RMH as a wandering patient by cops, was reunited with her family in Nepal. The woman was a drug addict. She underwent treatment at the institute and showed signs of improvement. She gave details about her residence. Social workers with the help of a language translator contacted a group in Thane and managed to trace her address in Nepal.
“She was at the hospital for almost five years and was reunited with the family after the legal process was completed. Government representatives and cops were present at the reunion earlier this month. Her family includes husband, children and parents,” said RMH officials.
The husband of the patient said, “We thought that either she is lost or had died. The children always asked about their mother. We were speechless when cops called us and shared her photos. We are overjoyed by her return.”
In another case, a 50-year-old man from Bina village in Saupal district of Bihar was reunited with his family two months back. The man was a wandering case and brought to RMH by cops for medical aid. He was undergoing treatment at the hospital for nine years and his condition had improved a couple of years back. Bina was the only name of the village which he would remember.
“He belongs to a very poor family and his family didn’t even have money to come to Pune to take him back. Social workers contacted the local cops and sarpanch of the village to track down his family. Later, Aadhaar cards, photo and other documents of the family and the patient were shared for confirmation of identity. He was then discharged after completion of legal process. He has parents and brothers at home,” a RMH social worker said.
“We had thought that he has passed away. Parents are delighted to have him back. We couldn’t control our tears when we saw him return home. After losing hope and past nine years, we learned that he is in a hospital in Maharashtra. We thank the hospital staff for reuniting our lost brother with us,” said brother of the patient.
