When a patient is in hospital in India, he is likely to be accompanied by a number of people — parents, siblings, children, may be even a neighbour. Yet, in most healthcare systems — in India and abroad — these people just wait around while the patient undergoes surgery or convalesces. But what if they could play a more active role as caregivers?
That is the mission of Noora Health, a non-profit which equips frontline hospital staff, usually nurses, to educate patients’ relatives in everything from hand-washing and basic hygiene to checking for a pulse and dressing a wound. That empowers the family to care for the patient not just in the hospital but during convalescence at home, reducing repeat visits and dependence on doctors and significantly lowering the cost of healthcare.