Sabr: A care collaborative

Dr. Chitra Venkateswaran is the Founder and Clinical Director of the Mehac Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that works towards improving the quality of lives of mentally ill people and their families in Kerala, and throughout India, by incorporating the principles of palliative care. The foundation strives to deliver care focusing on strengthening mental health services and access to medications in the community, and improving quality of care.

Join us in this conversation with Dr. Chitra on questions of mental health, community mobilization, partnering with the state, gendered aspects of care provision, and what it means to work with the people in an increasingly commodified healthcare sector.

Dr. Venkateswaran a senior faculty in Psychiatry devotes her time to palliative care issues especially psychosocial issues, training and research. She has focused on identifying psychological distress in the palliative care population as part of her research and has carried out projects both in India and the UK. As the Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry, along with being a Senior Mentor in Palliative Care at BC MCH, Tiruvalla, Kerala, India, she has made significant contributions to both medical education and patient care. As a Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) International Research Fellow (2006-2008), she did research on screening tools for psychological distress in palliative care in Leeds, UK. She initiated psycho oncology clinics in the Pain and Palliative Care Society, Calicut, (2003) and in the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (2008).

Alongside her research work, Dr. Venkateswaran is a member of the National Faculty in Palliative Care in India, the Indian Association of Palliative Care and Faculty/Consultant for Cairdeas International Palliative Care Trust, Scotland, UK. She is a also a member of the Psycho Social Advisory Panel, Palcare-The Jimmy S Bilimoria Foundation, member of Wabi Sabi Health Foundation, USA and is a Honorary Senior Research Fellow of Hull Medical School, UK.