Cancer patients in Bengaluru who cannot travel to hospital will be able to access doorstep palliative-care services from the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, with a mobile team providing treatment, counselling and available medicines within an initial 15-kilometre radius.
Institute director Dr R. Krishnappa said the service had been arranged for patients who are unable to visit hospital for treatment. The programme is intended to help manage pain and other symptoms while reducing the physical and mental stress experienced by patients and their families.
The institute’s pain-relief and palliative-care department is also organising an awareness programme in the city on October 10 to mark Hospice and Palliative Care Day. The programme will focus on the role of palliative care in supporting cancer patients beyond hospital-based treatment.
According to Dr Krishnappa, the doorstep service will use a mobile van staffed by specialist doctors, nurses and other medical personnel. The team will visit patients at home, consult family members and provide treatment based on their needs. Medicines available through the service will also be given to patients during home visits, the institute said in a statement.
The arrangement is designed to address a practical barrier in cancer care: patients dealing with pain, weakness or other treatment-related difficulties may not be able to make repeated journeys to a hospital. By taking a medical team to the patient’s home, the service brings symptom management and family counselling into the residential setting. The institute has not provided details in the supplied statement on registration procedures, eligibility requirements or whether patients will be charged for home visits.
The institute is also adding music and yoga therapy to its palliative-care programme as part of an effort to provide more comprehensive support to cancer patients. Dr Krishnappa said patients may experience persistent pain, anxiety, depression, fear, sleeplessness, loneliness and uncertainty about the future during treatment. The institute said these therapies are intended to support mental wellbeing alongside medication and other clinical care.
The inclusion of non-medical therapies reflects the broader scope of palliative care described by the institute. The service is not limited to managing physical symptoms; it also involves addressing the emotional strain faced by patients and their families. The extent and format of the music and yoga sessions were not specified in the report.
The home-care service will initially cover a 15-kilometre radius, with expansion planned at a later stage, according to the institute’s statement. The next operational milestone is the city awareness programme scheduled for October 10, while further details on the service’s expansion are expected to come from the institute.
