PatientsEngage General Community

Dr. Shivaprakash Srinivasan, Child Adolescent  and Adult Psychiatrist at SCARF puts the spotlight on the growing trend of cyberbullying, the impact of cyberbullying on adolescent mental health and what parents and educators/teachers can do to prevent cyberbullying and spot signs. The internet since its introduction to the public in the early 1990’s has been changing the world at a really rapid pace. It has been making communication with persons around the world astoundingly easy and also…

People get umpteen health news forwards and they often forward without verifying. Some even think "may be it will help some one". Dr. Aju Mathew, medical oncologist and director, Kerala Cancer Care shares his tips on how to spot the fake news forwards and whether you should forward or not. We live in an era of information superhighway. In a way, this is a more democratic way of communication. Everyone has a voice - not just those with power or knowledge. But in the cacophony of the voices, the…

On World Human Rights Day and the day after World Patient Safety Day, TogetherWeCan and PatientsEngage would like to bring the focus on safety of children at therapy centres. Despite an ongoing petition in Kerala since 2015, progress has been slow. Why is a child's right to safety not a priority? In light of a couple of recent incidents, we bring you an update on the petition on therapy centre regulation by Seema Lal.  In October 2018 the following incident happened in a government therapy…

A global investigation called ImplantFiles found an absence of clear guidelines on testing,  poor regulatory practices and lack of transparency resulting in pain to patients and in some cases even untimely death. As the medical device industry innovates at a rapid pace and flaws found in devices trigger recalls and safety alerts, Dr. Shital Raval looks at what the patient can do to reduce the risk. How safe are the medical devices implanted into your body? Did you know that medical…

Outdoor play is important for all persons including children with disabilities. In our Live Discussion sessions we talk to a play therapist, an Ashoka fellow and parents of teenagers on the autism spectrum. In continuation of our series on Living Better With Disabilities we have with us Meet our Panelists:  Kavitha Krishnamoorthy: Parent of teenager on spectrum, Founder Kilikili and Ashoka Fellow Lucy Bowen: Play Therapist, National Association for Play Therapy   Priya Kannan:…

World Disability Day, December 3rd, sheds light on an often ignored ‘minority’, which makes up 15% of the world’s population. While the focus is on ‘inclusivity’, most people are unaware of its existence. Wheelchair user, film-maker and travel expert Rustom Irani shares his sentiments and outlook.  Let’s communicate. Just you and me. You in front of your screen reading this, me, wondering if we’d ever meet in person. Millions of us, wondering, communicating seldom and left wanting. Rules…

Ritika Sahni, a singer-activist, special educator and Founder of NGO Trinayani, an advocacy driven organization, emphasises that it is important to change attitudes and mindset of the non-disabled population if we want to make the world more inclusive for persons with disabilities. Could you tell us a little about Trinayani and how was it conceptualized? Trinayani is an NGO founded in 2006. It has been working towards creating awareness about disability and diversity issues and empowering…

And continue to give back to the community. Vijay Bhende, 38 and his wife who got married on World Aids Day 10 years ago, have completed their TB treatment and have now adopted 10 HIV+ girls. Vijay talks of his near death experience, his feelings of isolation and ostracisation and turning the corner to a healthy life. Please tell us a bit about your condition I am a TB patient who has also been diagnosed with HIV. When were you diagnosed? What were the early symptoms? Please describe your…

Naved Patel, 26 year old chef, entrepreneur, food stylist, suffered severe allergy from his pet dogs that left him acutely breathless, damaged his power to smell and scarred him for life. Here he narrates how it all began. We also talk to Dr. Anil Ballani to understand dog allergy. We are a family of passionate pet lovers. At age 20, when I landed up with 3 dogs in the house, I was over the moon. I was the proud owner of three puppies - two Labradors and one Pug. I named the Labradors Hugo and…

By making a few modifications and changes in the house, a wheelchair user can be as independent as possible. Here are a few suggestions. How to make your house wheelchair user friendly Use wooden planks (in picture above) as portable ramps. Remember the ramp should have 1" rise for every 12" length (1 to 12 ratio). Put handrails on both sides of stairs. To take a wheelchair through a doorway, it should have at least 32" clear opening. Reorganise the furniture to give more space for wheelchair…