The recent incident of a mother in Bengaluru causing the death of her disabled child has stirred many reactions and caused a lot of introspection in families with disabled children. But what of the larger community? Did we give it a moment? What can we do? What should we do?
During a conversation in a little cafe in Chennai with some of the early contributors of PatientsEngage, people associated with VidyaSagar, an organisation for children and adults with special needs, the commonly held…
Dr Avinash Joshi, a psychiatrist, has set up a marriage bureau for people with psychiatric and physical disabilities in the hope of providing them not just a soul mate, but also helping build a relationship on trust . You have started a marriage bureau for people with psychiatric and physical disabilities, the first of its kind in India. What spurred you to set up this unique initiative? I have set up a matchmaking site called, manomarriage.com for people with psychiatric and physical…
12% of people with diabetes have major depression, and about 10 to 20% have minor depression. In a new analysis, German researchers have found that reducing depressive symptoms does indeed help control blood glucose better and even increasing the probability of bringing HbA1C under to under 7.5. According to study investigator Andreas Schmitt, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at the Research Institute of the Diabetes Academy Mergentheim in Germany, it could be that the less depressed people are,…
A clinical trial update on long term research carried out on patients with advanced gastro intestinal stromal tumours 10% of patients with advanced and aggressive GIST cancer have survived more than 10 years after treatment with one of the first successful targeted cancer drugs. They are living free of any progression of their cancer. These are based on long-term results from a major international clinical trial of patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) a decade after…
Child therapy, specially for those who have neurological issues, without parental supervision can often lead to more damage than help, Seema Lal, child rights activist at TogetherWeCan shares the best approach to empowering parents to ensure the best for the child. I was watching an interview of a renowned person talking about all the therapies their centre offers. Starting with speech therapy, occupational therapy, special education, behavioural therapy, music therapy, art therapy, dance…
Mitr is a vibrant community centre in Chennai for parents who have children with special needs, where you can bond with like-minded families, sit back and relax at the Special Needs Mitr Cafe, or engage in an exciting range of vocational classes and activities held for both parents and kids. Parents of children with special needs may feel isolated and disheartened coping with medical, financial, educational and emotional issues. Mitr is a centre in Chennai for serving parents of children who…
"Convincing the parents and gaining their trust was the hardest" - Prashant Issar, CEO and cofounder of Mirchi and Mime, a restaurant in Mumbai, which has hired 44 Speech and Hearing Impaired persons as its mainstay staff. Read the PatientsEngage interview with Prashant To have a restaurant manned essentially by speech and hearing impaired is an innovative concept. When and how did you embark on starting Mirchi and Mime? I and my partner Anuj are both alumni of Henley Business School, UK…
Country Pop Singer Glen Campbell dies at 81 due to Alzheimer's. Also an exclusive clip from the end of the James Keach documentary that depicts how the heartbreaking song came together: one line at a time, due to Campbell's memory struggles. Glen Campbell, the multiple Grammy-winning country-pop singer, guitarist and TV personality who went public with his advancing Alzheimer's after a half-century career has died. He was 81. The “Goodbye Tour,” which pushed into 2012, was the subject of the…
Poesy Liang 小詩 is an artist who uses art to question and break down stereotypes. She survived 3 spinal surgeries and battled paralysis twice caused by a rare benign tumour in her spinal cord (thoracic intradural meningioma).This is her speech made during the media conference to open the exhibition for Arts Beyond Sight feat in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. "I’d like everyone to relax, don’t look at your phone, close your eyes. Relax, it’s okay. Close them. Let your eyes take a minute break…
