KOCHI: Kerala’s rapidly changing demography has led to an increasing demand for various services, especially patient care and palliative care. Though there are many private agencies providing home nurse services, many times, people are hesitant to use them.
Considering this, Kudumbashree launched ‘K4 Care’, a project aimed at providing reliable and safe care services, towards the end of 2023. It has now expanded into services that include dropping and picking up children from schools by trained K4 Care executives, accompanying elderly to banks, government offices, and the like.
“As of now, the first batch of 499 executives has passed out. Of them, 297 are yet to be placed. The rest have completed their service period at least once,” an official with K4 Care told TNIE, adding that their executives have been in huge demand across the state since the launch of the service.
The official said the oft-demanded K4 Care services are patient and palliative care. As for the districts having higher demand for the services, the official said, “It was highest in Palakkad, Thrissur and Ernakulam. We anticipated more demand from Pathanamthitta and Kottayam, but the number of requests was, surprisingly, low in comparison.”
Idukki, Thiruvananthapuram and Malappuram too have reported lower demand. “We will be focusing on increasing our customer connect programmes in the districts,” the official said, adding that all aspects of the services are handled very professionally.
“There is no scope for lapses from the executives. They are monitored constantly and even customer feedback is collected through a dedicated call centre set up by Kudumbashree,” she said.
The executives comprise men and women aged between 18 and 55, from the Kudumbashree ayalkoottam, auxillary group and those who have cleared Class X, said the official, adding that K4 Care aims to utilise the care economy to help members of Kudumbashree community development societies (CDSs) earn employment while providing good care to customers.
“All trained executives have undergone screening,” said the official. “Thirty people in each district are trained at hospitals with 100-bed capacity for 15 days, and are deployed only after certification from the business consultancy entrusted with training them,” she said.
A customer from Palakkad, who did not wish to be named, said, “I contacted K4 Care to get the dressing on the wound on my father’s hand changed. Haseena, the executive assigned to us, was very helpful. She not only came every other day to change the dressing, but also took my father to the hospital for check-ups.”
Following the positive feedback, the K4 Care project will now be operated in consortium mode. “The process will be completed in another month or so. Each district will have a consortium having all trained executives as members. It will have a president, secretary and treasurer, as well as a bank account,” said the official.
On remuneration, the official said it depended on the length of employment. “It is Rs 200 for an hour, Rs 350 for two hours, and Rs 500 for half a day (4 hours),” she said, adding that the charges vary depending on the service rendered. Also, the safety of customers is taken into consideration, and all service requests are screened with the help of the respective area’s CDS to ensure the safety of executives too. The respective CDS is informed about all placements made under K4 Care, said the official.