Chhattisgarh government has started a new initiative under the ‘Physiotherapy Tumcho Duvar’ scheme for elderly tribals in the Naxal-affected and remote areas of the state. The scheme is being run for elderly people living alone at home.
A team of the Health Department reaches door to door in these areas to provide physiotherapy. Until now, 710 patients have been treated in the Kondagaon district of Bastar. The physiotherapy team believes that initially, the villagers got confused between physiotherapy vehicles and vaccination or testing vehicles. The team also had to face many difficulties in making the patients aware of the treatment because of language, dialect, and new methods of treatment.
Kondagaon is the first district in the state where services are being provided to patients. It is a tribal-dominated area where family members are mostly away from home for daily needs and no one is available throughout the day to take care of the elderly.
Dr. Padmanath Baghel, the physiotherapist of the district hospital decided to begin physiotherapy services at home after checking the condition of Sampath Poyam, a patient bedridden for three years. Sampath Poyam benefitted from the scheme and was able to stand after 5 months of treatment.