UNIT-5

MEDICAL CAMP- CONCEPT AND MEANING

Medical camps are conducted by health professionals to carry out a limited health

intervention amongst the underprivileged community. The poor attend these camps to get free

check-up and treatment. Getting the appropriate kind of health checkup is vital for every

human being and while considering it, some important factors like age, lifestyle, family

background, and risks are taken into account.

Health examinations and tests at the early stages of the illness can help to cure it faster and

save a life before it can cause any damage. One can live longer and healthier only when the

individual gets the right kind of health check-up, screening, and treatments. Even the most

basic checkups can identify underlying illnesses.

These medical camps provide the poor population overall physical examinations which
include eyes and health check-ups, assessment of the functioning of vital organs like the
heart, lungs, digestive system, liver, kidneys, and immune system. Free medical camps are
extremely helpful for the poor population who earn a meager income and cannot afford
expensive healthcare services offered by hospitals or clinics.
OBJECTIVES OF MEDICAL CAMP

1. Provide free and high-quality medical services for the poor population.
2. Working as an emergency team in disasters.
3. Raise health awareness among the community and teach them to deal with
communicable and non-communicable
4. Register rare and severe cases and refer them to specialized centers.
5. Evaluate the living conditions and determine the obstacles and challenges to work on
solving their problems.
6. Refer medical cases towards surgeries if required

Role social workers in Organizing medical campus in rural and urban areas.
Planning Consideration
Planning is the primary phase of conducting a health camp. This phase includes mapping out
the overall aspect of health camp including venue, manpower planning ,financial planning ,
resource allocation, logistic& transportation planning with proper planning monitoring and
supervision in between the camp. Health camp should always be conducted during holidays
or weekends so as to allow maximum number of participants in the camp.Venue should be
accessible from the area where there is dense population, preferably in school, local health
post, colleges where there are adequate waiting area and examination space. Organisers need
to collaborate with the interested stakeholder
so as to ensure adequate budget for conducting the camp. Medicine and consumable supplies
can be obtained from prior request to various pharmaceutical companies.
Knowledge of Health statistics
Adequate knowledge of recent prevalence of the disease in the targeted community will be
very much helpful in planning a health camp scientifically. It would also help in choosing the
medicines and specialists for the camp. Eg. There will be no any significance of conducting
an epilepsy camp in the area where there is very less prevalence of epilepsy or no any
relevant data about epilepsy is available. Availability of proper statistics of certain disease
can help in conducting periodic camp in the targeted area so as to decrease the disease
prevalence rate through the camp. It can be collected through the proper government or
private health authority of the area where camp is going to be conducted.
Permission from relevant authority
After having initial planning for the camp, the organizer should also seek permission from the
relevant authority to conduct the camp in the desired area. The relevant authority may be a
single body or multiple bodies and may include both government, community and private
organisations. Depending upon the objectives and modalities of the camp, the permission
granting authority ranges from Health Ministry, public health office, municipality, ward
office, local committee & concerned authority of the camp venue like school, orphanage, old
age care home etc. The main purpose of this step is to ensure that the organizer will conduct
the camp in ethical manner providing a quality care without any profit motive and self-
interest.
Camp information dissemination
Organizer should createa hype for the camp at least few days prior to the event. The camp
information can be disseminated by pamphlets with catchy headlines andshort sentence
mentioning free medicine if applicable, loud speaker announcement in the community,
placing a camp banner in the decent visible height & broadcasting through local TV, radio
and newspaper.
Camp Inauguration
Organizers should always have small opening of the camp in presence of local leaders
involving mayor, police personnel, social workers , local health authority personnel . This
will help addressing the local authorities commitment to improve the quality of health of the
community as well as improving the current health statistics. The inauguration program
should not be too long and it should not overshadow the program itself.
Multidisciplinary approach
Health camp should always be led by multidisciplinary manpower ranging from helper,
health assistant to different categories of consultants. Even a specific camp should have
multidisciplinary approach as those health camps in unreached area tend to have a multiple
disease specific service seekers.
Technology Transfer
It is the most important aspect during the camp conduction. Technology transfer is the
process of sharing the knowledge and technology related to the disease and its management
from a competent health professional to the local health professionals residing in health camp
area. This will allow the local health professional for early diagnosis of disease even after the
camp and refer the case to the preferred treatment destination whenever needed. This allows
the general capacity building of the local health professionals so as he/she can manage the
patients who come for followup after the camp
Community Participation
Local students, members of local clubs, societies, healthprofessionals should be encouraged
to volunteer in the camp as well as to help in registration process and crowd management. It
also provides them a bond of community participation and a learning opportunity. A
multisectoral stake holder’s participation is required from the individual level to any
organizational level in the community. Unless the local leaders of the society take interest,
medical camps will not be able to achieve its objective. The active participation of the
community also makes a health camp more fruitful. The overall community participation also
helps in making the camp harmonious.
Health promotion and awareness
Medical camps should be encouraged to provide health education to the people attending the
camp.There should be volunteers in the camp who can help in health promotion of the local
community and providing awareness in various types of diseases and illness prevalent in the
community. This will help in sharing the preventive, promotive part of the disease so as to
make them aware before the disease process starts.
Behavior and manner of health volunteers
All the health volunteers involved in camp should communicate to the community people in
local dialects as much as possible. They should also follow the local customs and traditions,
rules and mannerisms. The volunteers should act courteously and also guide the patients as
per the patient’s requirements.

Organizational setup required for medical camps

1. resource mobilization for medical camps,

2. tele-medicine and tele-psychiatry,
3. Rehabilitation centres
4. half way homes,
5. sheltered workshop occupation therapy
6. Unit residential homes and geriatric centres
1. resource mobilization for medical camps
The term resource mobilization refers to all activities undertaken by a startup or an
organization to secure new and additional financial, human and material resources to advance
its mission. Inherent in efforts to mobilize resources is the drive for organizational
sustainability. Resource mobilization can also be called as the process of getting resource
from resource provider, using different mechanisms, to implement the organization’s work
for achieving the pre-determined organizational goals. It deals in acquiring the needed
resources in a timely-cost effective manner. Resource mobilization advocates upon having
the right type of resource, at the right time, at right price with making right use of acquired
resources thus ensuring optimum utilization of the same.
Resources can be grouped into 4 main categories:
• Human
• Social
• Physical
• Economic/Financial
There are three main components to effective resource mobilisation:
1. Accessing Existing Wealth.
You can tailor your ‘Road Map’ with different strategies to persuade groups who can provide
a wide range of resources: • Indigenous / Local Organisations • Philanthropists • Grassroots
Organisations • Government agencies • Businesses • Individual donors/membership
subscription
2.Generating New Wealth
. Your organisation can create avenues for building resources including: • Selling services or
products • Establishing and operating microcredit programmes • Tapping social investment
resources • Building reserve funds with investment income • Membership and subscription
packages
3. Expanding Non-financial Resources.
Don’t underestimate the significance of non-direct financial contributions. These include: •
Volunteer time and experience;

2.tele-medicine and tele-psychiatry,

Telemedicine
Telemedicine, a term coined in the 1970s, which literally means “healing at a distance” (1),
signifies the use of ICT to improve patient outcomes by increasing access to care and medical
information. Recognizing that there is no one definitive definition of telemedicine – a 2007
study found 104 peer-reviewed definitions of the word (2) – the World Health Organization
has adopted the following broad description:
“The delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care
professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid
information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and
evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interests of
advancing the health of individuals and their communities” (3). The many definitions
highlight that telemedicine is an open and constantly evolving science, as it incorporates new
advancements in technology and responds and adapts to the changing health needs and
contexts of societies. Some distinguish telemedicine from telehealth with the former
restricted to service delivery by physicians only, and the latter signifying services provided
by health professionals in general, including nurses, pharmacists, and others. However, for
the purpose of this report, telemedicine and telehealth are synonymous and used
interchangeably
Four elements are germane to telemedicine:
1. Its purpose is to provide clinical support.
2. It is intended to overcome geographical barriers, connecting users who are not in the same
physical location.
3. It involves the use of various types of ICT.
4. Its goal is to improve health outcomes.
Telemedicine applications can be classified into two basic types, according to the timing of
the information transmitted and the interaction between the individuals involved—be it health
professional-to-health professional or health professional-to-patient (4). Store-and-forward,
or asynchronous, telemedicine involves the exchange of pre-recorded data between two or
more individuals at different times. For example, the patient or referring health professional
sends an e-mail description of a medical case to an expert who later sends back an opinion
regarding diagnosis and optimal management (10). In contrast, real time, or synchronous,
telemedicine requires the involved individuals to be simultaneously present for immediate
exchange of information, as in the case of videoconferencing (10). In both synchronous and
asynchronous telemedicine, relevant information may be transmitted in a variety of media,
such as text, audio, video, or still images. These two basic approaches to telemedicine are
applied to a wide array of services in diverse settings, including teledermatology,
telepathology, and teleradiology (6, 11). The majority of telemedicine services, most of
which focus on diagnosis and clinical management, are routinely offered in industrialized
regions including, but not limited to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland, Scandinavia, North America, and Australia (4, 12). In addition, biometric measuring
devices such as equipment monitoring heart rate, blood pressure and blood glucose levels are
increasingly used to remotely monitor and manage patients with acute and chronic illnesses.
Some predict that telemedicine will profoundly transform the delivery of health services in
the industrialized world by migrating health care delivery away from hospitals and clinics
into homes (13). In low-income countries and in regions with limited infrastructure,
telemedicine applications are primarily used to link health-care providers with specialists,
referral hospitals, and tertiary care centres (13). Even though low-cost telemedicine
applications have proven to be feasible, clinically useful, sustainable, and scalable in such
settings and underserved communities, these applications are not being adopted on a
significant scale due to a variety of barriers (14).
Telepsychiatry
Telemedicine is the process of providing health care from a distance through technology,
often using videoconferencing. Telepsychiatry, a subset of telemedicine, can involve
providing a range of services including psychiatric evaluations, therapy (individual therapy,
group therapy, family therapy), patient education and medication management.

Telepsychiatry can involve direct interaction between a psychiatrist and the patient. It also
encompasses psychiatrists supporting primary care providers with mental health care
consultation and expertise. Mental health care can be delivered in a live, interactive
communication. It can also involve recording medical information (images, videos, etc.) and
sending this to a distant site for later review.

Benefits

Video-based telepsychiatry helps meet patients’ needs for convenient, affordable and readily-
accessible mental health services. It can benefit patients in a number of ways, such as:

o Improve access to mental health specialty care that might not otherwise be available
(e.g., in rural areas)
o Bring care to the patient’s location
o Help integrate behavioral health care and primary care, leading to better outcomes
o Reduce the need for trips to the emergency room
o Reduce delays in care
o Improve continuity of care and follow-up
o Reduce the need for time off work, childcare services, etc. to access appointments far
away
o Reduce potential transportation barriers, such as lack of transportation or the need for
long drives
o Reduce the barrier of stigma

While some people may be reluctant or feel awkward talking to a person on a screen,
experience shows most people are comfortable with it. Some people may be more relaxed
and willing to open up from the comfort of their home or a convenient local facility. Also,
this will likely be less of a problem as people become more familiar and comfortable with
video communication in everyday life.

Telepsychiatry allows psychiatrists to treat more patients in distant locations. Psychiatrists

and other clinicians need to be licensed in the state(s) where the patient they are working with
is located. State licensing boards and legislatures view the location of the patient as the place
where “the practice of medicine” occurs.
Although telepsychiatry has the disadvantage of the patient and psychiatrist not being in the
same room, it can create enhanced feelings of safety, security and privacy for many patients.

Rehabilitation centres half way homes

halfway house, also called residential treatment center, term that is used to

refer to community-based facilities that have been set up to provide access to
community resources and offer transitional opportunities for individuals who are
attempting to return to society as healthy, law-abiding, and productive members of
the community after they have been found guilty of some crime.

The concept of the halfway house is predicated upon the ideals of humanitarianism,

rehabilitation, and reintegration. More often referred to as “residential treatment
centers” in contemporary criminal justice and social services systems, halfway
houses have been inextricably linked to the dominant punishment philosophy of
their eras.
SHELTERED WORKSHOP OCCUPATION THERAPY UNIT
RESIDENTIAL HOMES AND GERIATRIC CENTRES
• Provide all the basic and required needs of an elderly person such as shelter, healthy food and
comfortable living

• Brain enhancement programs such as classes and activities that could encourage activities
• Community and public involvement be it by adult, peer or children.

• Natural environment such as sustainable design approach and landscapes.