Takeaways from Volunteering at a Health Camp in Krishnagiri, India
- Nisha Shankar
- Aug 13, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 20, 2024
Recently, I started volunteering at a free health clinic hosted by the Shiva-Vishnu Temple in Livermore, California. Within the first few hours, I started to notice that the patients seeking medical advice and guidance consisted mostly of elderly parents of the Bay Area Indians visiting them for a few months. This observation made me curious about the status of healthcare in India. Why are so many Indian citizens seeking out medical care in the United States? I came to realize that healthcare may not be easily accessible in certain areas of the world. This experience sparked my interest to organize a free health camp in India.
A couple months later I found myself at a rural hospital in India sitting at a long table with medical instruments spread over it and ready to take vitals. I watched nervously as the first two patients of the day stepped down from a rickshaw with our medical camp’s flier posted on the back. As these elderly women approached the registration table, I grabbed a pen and a registration form, ready to write down their name and date of birth. Then, I worked alongside other Medical Assistants obtaining vitals, including blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse, and blood glucose, and recording their height and weight. Then I ushered the patients into one of the doctor’s offices and quickly returned back to the registration table. As I waited for more patients to arrive, I found myself excited and relieved. My dream had come true!
This health camp was hosted on June 21, 2024, by JAYES Foundation in collaboration with Anusham Hospitals in Krishnagiri, India, a small town in southern India. Adult patients from villages near Krishnagiri came to check their vitals and seek medical advice. After consultation with the doctor, they were given free medications and referrals to specialty doctors in the area as needed.
In addition to taking patients’ vitals, I had the opportunity to scribe for the doctor on site, so I was able to listen to patients’ chief complaints, and the doctor’s diagnoses and treatments.
Here are some examples of patient visits that stood out to me:
A woman in her 50s with chronic tinnitus and hearing issues, who has been dealing with these conditions for over 2 years, has been going to different doctors and been put on multiple medications like antidepressants, opioids, and prednisone. She did not understand her condition, so the doctor on site explained it to her, and she felt more at ease afterwards.
An elderly man with diabetes and neuropathy limped into the clinic due to amputated toes on his left foot. This is an example of how patients let chronic conditions fester because of lack of knowledge or self-care. So, their conditions worsen until it becomes extreme, which could have been avoided by seeking out medical care earlier in the diagnoses.
A gentleman in his 30s came in with a blood pressure of 180/100. He had never checked his blood pressure until this day and was unaware of hypertension or that it could lead to heart attack or stroke.
A young mother, in her 30s with 2 small children claimed that she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C when trying to conceive 10 years ago. However, she never sought treatment or evaluation for this diagnosis.
By the end of the day, we had treated around 50 patients, and distributed about 10,000 rupees worth of medication. However, these statistics are not the only measures of success of the camp that I had noticed. Throughout the day, previous patients returned back with their family members and friends. They had been so grateful and starved for healthcare, that they were eager for their loved ones to be checked out as well. Seeing this urgent need from patients gave me insight into healthcare gaps in this community.
Here are a few takeaways from my experience at the health camp:
Most patients have not seen a doctor for at least a year because of the cost of healthcare and general lack of awareness of health and wellness.
Treatments and scans are expensive for this community, so once advised, they ignore the information until a health scare occurs; then, they come in or take advantage of the free health camps for sample medications.
There are individuals who have never gotten their vitals checked, so they have undiagnosed chronic conditions, especially hypertension or diabetes.
Self-care awareness is lacking in this patient population.
Overall, there is a general lack of awareness of preventive care contributing to the development of chronic diseases. There is no concept of exercise because their jobs are manual labor that leaves them with aches and pains all over their body. Small lifestyle changes, including healthy nutrition choices, regular exercises, good restorative sleep, taking ownership and investing on self-care and health regularly, could make a huge difference in these individuals’ lives. The onsite doctor at the camp was trained in lifestyle medicine, which is a specialty where lifestyle changes can treat and prevent chronic conditions. For every patient, she stressed proper lifestyle practices that would improve their chronic conditions. Camps like this with dedicated doctors are needed to educate patients on healthy lifestyle choices to prevent chronic conditions and provide preventive care.
This health camp has left me with an eagerness to do more. Based on my observations and takeaways, I have realized that there will always be more to do for this community. So, my next goal is to conduct additional health camps with more volunteers, with the aim to bring more like-minded individuals to help empower people with the knowledge needed to raise health awareness and bring forth lifestyle medicine practices in the village communities like the one I witnessed in Krishnagiri.
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