Bedridden people face a major problem of bedsores. This state can be prevented if the early signs are noticed and catered to in time. In order to create awareness on this issue, two projects have been started under the guidance of Dr. Sukhpal Kaur, (Lecturer, Department of NINE, PGI) and Dr. Amarjeet Singh (Professor, School of Public Health, PGI). The project team visits the bedridden patients and their caregivers selected for the project to prevent and treat bedsores. This is supported by distributing the booklets in Hindi and English to the families included in the study. The purpose of this book is to provide simple solutions to the challenges faced by the bedridden patients and their caregivers in day to day life in easy language. Chandigarh administration has awarded 1st prize to Dr.Sukhpal Kaur for the hindi version of the book. This project has been started with the financial support of ICMR, New Delhi and DST-TIE, GOI.
So far, 50 patients have been recruited from the tricity. The services provided through the project have been appreciated by the registered patients and their families. Patients are responding well which can be noticed by the improvement they are showing. Many of the cases have improved from grade 2 to grade 1 bedsore and few of them have even shown complete recovery. We have come across various bedsore management modalities viz.use of til oil, paraffin wax, vinegar, gelusil & oxygen etc. People tend to use anything that promises improvement without any objective evidence for the same. To spread awareness about this project, we have even put up posters displaying the information regarding the same in various government hospitals like GMCH-32,GMCH Sec-16 , Saket hospital, etc. A new development in the project is the interest shown by Rotary International, Chandigarh to extend their support to enhance the scope of services provided by the project.
Interested persons/families may contact the project team at 8872016108 and 0172-2745500 for registering themselves in the study. PGIMER website is also regularly updated with the information regarding the same. Cases are recruited after screening them for inclusion criteria. No charges are levied for these services. The cost of care is borne through the project funds. A copy of the book is given free of cost. Acute problems are not be covered in the project.
The project team comprises of Dr.Upasana Sharma, Dr.Prabjyot Kaur, Dr.Sarthak Sharma, Dr.Sakun Garg, Ms Blapreet Kaur and Ms Rimpy Bhatt. They are providing phone based/home visits based services to eligible cases as per the need. The project headquarters are at National Institute of Nursing Education, PGIMER, Chandigarh.