Dear Readers,
An eye hospital is established with the primary aim of providing care and cure to patients. What we have not realized is the fact that very often patient who have managed to cross the many barriers there are to access a hospital very often completes the test, receives the advice and then walks out with complying with it or accepting the Doctors decision. This is primarily the need with which the counsellors in an eye hospital are appointed-to convert a non acceptor of care to acceptor of care. For counselors in an eye hospital to deliver their work effectively they have to follow a counselling process, apply different methods of counselling, and leverage their delivery by utilizing different counselling aids. Analogies are a powerful communication tool that the counselors can use. The ideal counselling set up is also illustrated. The challenges for providing counselling are many and this is detailed in the barriers faced by a patient. Frequently asked questions provide a guideline to the counsellors on a set of questions patients constantly tend to ask which they must answer to. Case studies highlight the impact of counselling on transforming a patient life.
Happy Reading!
Regards,
Vision 2020 e-resource team
|
|
Counselling is considered as a purposeful conversation to facilitate decision making. Counselling in eye care has evolved to be there for the following objectives:
- To increase awareness about eye diseases
- To increase patient compliance to treatment
- To market new products or services
- To moderate patient expectations
In eye care as in other health care there are many barriers which prevent patients from following up with the Doctors advice. It is in this context that the role of the counsellors comes into prominence. The main reason for counselling is convert the non acceptors of eye care into acceptors. Any health care provider should be satisfied only if the person who approaches for treatment complies with the treatment and follows. Then only we can say that we, as an health care provider has impacted on improving health care. Very often, the hospital rests satisfied with treating only the patients who have come to them. But studies have repeatedly showed that among the persons who require healthcare, only a small minority come and utilize healthcare. Even those who come, listening to the Doctors advice does not automatically translate into an uptake of the service. It is all these issues which are taken up by the counselors to ensure that people utilize healthcare.
One aspect of patient counselling is also to help patients who have apprehensions on aspects of treatment, surgery, adapting to hospitalization, resource mobilization. Patient Counselling helps such people in understanding about the treatment, length of stay, cost, prognosis, and plan for their rehabilitation.
|
|
Introduction of Counselling 