Care Companion Health Program- A Helping Hand

Care Companion Health Program- A Helping Hand

Introduction-
Precaution is always better than cure. To educate the patient regarding the cause of disease and remedy, Punjab Government has launched a new scheme. The new scheme is named as “Care Companion Health Program”. The main motto of this scheme is to improve the outcomes of patients through more family engagement and awareness. For this purpose a MoU is signed between the Noora Health India Trust and Government of Punjab. Health and Family Welfare Minister of Punjab Mr. Brahm Mohindra has launched the scheme. 

Features of the Scheme-

• The “Care Companion Health Program” will be implemented in six major districts in Punjab. The hospitals in the districts will be benefited through the scheme. 
• These six hospitals are selected because the staff nurses have already given the training regarding how to educate the patients and their care givers.
• Under this scheme, the main focus is to teach the families of patients to take care of them. Especially the essential care procedures of the new-born and the mother who have just given birth to the baby must be taught to them.
• The main aim of the procedure is to reduce the rate of child mortality. The post natal care of mother and new-born will be the first priority of this scheme.
• To implement the scheme, the Punjab Govt. has signed an agreement with the Noora Health India Trust. It is a non-profit organization which is dedicated to the patients. 
• It provides the care-giving instruction to improve the condition of the patients through the “Care Companion Health Program”. 
• This initiative has turned the wards of hospital into the classrooms where the compassionate resource is available for the care of the patient. The high-quality medical skills are provided to the families to take proper care of the patients at home and at hospital.
• According to the minister, the scheme is launched the Care Companion Program would be initially implemented in the Maternal And Child Care Wings in six districts of Punjab.
•  These districts are Amritsar, Patiala, Jalandhar, SBS Nagar, Sangrur and Taran Taran. 
• The baby hygiene, feeding, thermal care and maternal care are included in the awareness program.
• The main motto of this is to reduce the death of the baby and post birth infections and other complications of mother.

Implementation of the Policy-
The Government Hospitals in these districts will get the benefit of this scheme. The family of the patient must be taught about the care of the patients so that they can be nurtured after the discharging from the hospitals. Child care and mother care is the main objective of this scheme. According to the ministers, the Department of Health and Family Welfare is working hard to improve the health status and welfare of the citizens of Punjab. By this scheme the problems like neonatal mortality, re-admission of patients, post-discharge complications must be minimized. On the other hand, productivity of staffs and nurses, hospital hygiene and patient satisfaction in the public Hospitals will be increased.

Conclusion-
This scheme will help the patients as well as the public must be aware of the proper methods of home-care of the patients of their family.