BHUBANESWAR: The devastating second wave of Covid-19 has left a trail of death and haplessness all around. The virus has robbed parents of their children, children have lost parents, families their sole bread owner - there is not one person who has not suffered the death of a close one in the family or friends.
Surrounded by such pain and agony, people in large numbers are struggling to cope with the mental health impact. While grief processing has emerged a major health problem in these times, a young doctor of Cuttack Bijayalaxmi Biswal with the help of two organisations is trying to help people heal emotionally.
A relatively new concept in Odisha, grief counselling is not yet a part of the government’s disaster management practices. Although hospitals have psychologists to help people tide over their anxiety, there are none to counsel grief. Twenty-six-year-old Biswal, who completed her MBBS from MKCG Medical College and Hospital at Berhampur in 2019, said during the second wave of Covid-19, she realised that grief was as debilitating for people as the disease.
“Today, we are witnessing a lot of Covid deaths as a result of which, families are breaking, children are being orphaned."
A helping hand for people struggling to pick up pieces
"Breadwinners are dying and leaving their children in perpetual debt. Some are losing employment. These are not normal times and trauma could really take a toll on people. So I thought psychosocial support could be extended to them through grief counselling”, said Biswal, one of the founding members of Citizens Collective for Public Health (a forum of doctors and social activists), working towards improving health equity across all community identities in Odisha.
Grief counselling, she says, is a method of acute distress management which does not require trained psychologists.
“All you need is trained professionals who can have an empathetic conversation with people affected by Covid-19 within the protocols laid out by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS)”, she said.
Currently, Biswal and her team are training 500 volunteers in grief counselling based on modules prepared by NIMHANS and UNICEF in collaboration with Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti and Jan Swasthya Abhiyan. She is also helping in preparation of the training protocols by taking assistance of trauma counsellors based outside Odisha. They will soon launch helplines for grief counselling. “If our helplines and initiative work well, we will try to see if it can become an integral part of government/private hospitals in the post-pandemic world”, she said.
Biswal, who chose to engage in public health initiatives beyond the hospital set-up after completing her MBBS, was also one among the first doctors to offer free tele-consultation on Covid-19 in Kalahandi immediately after the second wave hit and migrants of the district began returning home. She has now extended the service to Balangir, Jajpur and JP Nagar in North Bengaluru which is home to many Odia migrants.
SCB medicos demand vaccination of their family members
Members of Junior Doctors’ Association (JDA) of SCB Medical College and Hospital here have urged the State government to provide Covid-19 vaccines to family members of healthcare workers (HCWs) on priority basis.
In a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary of Health department, JDA president Dr Ramachandra Sahoo said, “Prioritising vaccination of family members of HCWs will boost our confidence and check the rapid spread of the virus as it is noticeable that the relatives of frontline Covid warriors are are at high-risk exposure.”