Integrated Physiotherapy Services Helping in Wellness & Rehabilitation of the Affected in Sundargarh

Sundargarh, 08.09.22: The integrated physiotherapy services available at Government Medical College & Hospital Sundargarh (GMC) and different Community Health Centres (CHC) has become quite beneficial for the people in the Sundargarh district. During the last 8 months, a total of 65,000 therapy sessions were offered free of cost to the beneficiaries across all age groups.

To offer physiotherapy and a wide range of modern therapeutic services, Sundargarh had launched Therapeutic Service Centre (TSC) at GMC Sundargarh in January 2022. Simultaneously, the service was extended to 10 select CHCs across the district for the benefit of the rural population. Looking at the response of the public, four new Integrated Therapeutic Units (IPU) have been inaugurated on the occasion of World Physiotherapy Day on Thursday.

Modern day Physiotherapy treatment is proving very beneficial in many congenital disease conditions, accident related trauma, neuro & lifestyle disorders, rehabilitation of People with Disabilities (PwD), elderly, pregnant women and children etc. The IPUs at Sundargarh play an important role in dealing with this gamut of issues, thus giving relief to the affected.

The free physiotherapy services in the district have been launched with the financial assistance from the District Mineral Foundation (DMF).

As per the data available with district health department, between Jan & September 2022, a total of 1739 patients have been benefitted from the array of therapeutic services provided at the GMC Sundargarh resulting in 13,122 therapy sessions. Similarly, 6339 patients have been offered 65,950 therapy sessions across 10 IPUs.

Moreover, the physiotherapy unit at the District HQ Hospital (DHH) is regularly offering modern therapeutic services to the visiting patients. So, a total of over 10,000 patients have been benefited so far by the integrated physiotherapy mechanism in Sundargarh.

At the GMC Sundargarh, the therapeutic service centre provides solutions like advanced physiotherapy, occupational therapy, early intervention therapy, behaviour therapy and geriatric rehabilitation. Senior citizens, PwDs, working population, women and children among others are being largely benefitted. Along with skilled therapists, the Centre has state-of art machines and equipments to provide the modern treatment.

Skilled therapists have also been appointed at the 14 IPUs at CHC in the district. A separate room has been set aside for children at each of the IPU.

To extend last mile delivery of physiotherapy and other IPU services, PHCs in the district provide physiotherapy OPD on a weekly basis. In case of any advanced intervention, patients are referred to DHH and GMC Sundargarh.

In the present era of change in lifestyle, non-communicable diseases like Diabetes, High blood pressure, cancer, obesity have been on the rise. Moreover, many people contact occupational and road traffic accident led injuries during their lifetime. For treatment of such conditions, rehabilitative physiotherapy is needed to recover from the morbidity and disability, which is now benefitting people of the district in a big way after launching of the IPU services, said Sundargarh CDM&PHO Dr. Saroj Kumar Mishra.

Special attention has been given for the convenience of PwDs and senior citizens at the IPUs. So, for ferrying them free of cost to different IPU centres, the district has facilitated eco-friendly e-auto ambulance. And for bed-ridden patients, the district administration has arranged home services on call.

Under the aegis of Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Department, Govt of Odisha, an Advanced Rehabilitation Centre (ARC) is functional at DHH Sundargarh since June 2020. Here, advanced robotic physiotherapy is provided to all patients free of cost.

At ARC Sundargarh, disability certificate holders can avail the artificial limb transplantation and assisted devices free of cost. As of August 2022, over four thousand robotic physiotherapy sessions have been conducted and four hundred plus beneficiaries have been provided with artificial limbs. The facility caters to the population of 7 western Odisha districts.