News and Stories

Stories, News and Experiences
Un’raval’ling Spiritual Values - 2002
Healing From Within – Poem – 2001
Time to Heal – April 2000
A Fleeting Visit – April 2000
A Valuable Service – December 2000

 

---------------------------------------------------------------

‘Unravalling’ Spiritual Values
Based on an Interview with Colonel Hansa Raval, MD - 2002

Dr Hansa Raval, a retired colonel of the US Army Medical Services, was a lecturer at Harvard University prior to joining one of the largest teaching hospitals for the US Army, Brooke Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas. As Oncologist, Director of Pathology Services and Director of Medical Training, Dr Raval has combined meditation with her medical skills for 25 years.

Initial impressions: When I first started to meditate, I just wanted to be more calm and focused and clearer about the situations that I had to face in my life. Then I started to see that my calmness was having a direct effect on all my patients.

The most memorable was a cancer patient who came to me hopeless, tearful and depressed, since learning about her illness. I remember being empathic with her; I was keeping my attitude calm and my words supportive. I told her that the medical treatment she would receive was the best that medicine could offer, but in order for her to recover, she would need to participate in her own healing. I showed her how she could do this by learning to be peaceful and positive about her illness.

Usually, you would expect a change of attitude to take time but within 12 hours this woman’s outlook towards herself and her illness had completely transformed. When she went for her breast surgery the next day, the surgeon noticed a remarkable change in her and rang me to ask what tranquillisers I had given her! He said she was very calm and co-operating but he was concerned about potential interactions with anaesthetics. I had, in fact, only taught her a basic meditation technique!

She quotes the research of the Simonton Institute, Texas, which used an experimental therapeutic model that has since been replicated in the USA:

Carl Simonton looked at the impact of positive thinking, vegetarian diet, exercise and visualisation on the health of terminally ill people. All hospital staff and relatives were required to complete training in positive thinking and imagery in order to aid the healing of the patients. Patients were also required to do this and to select a goal for their future, which they were to start working on while treatment appropriate to their illness was given.

The results were interesting. Over half of those ‘incurable’ patients recovered physically and nearly all were able to psychologically adjust. However medical institutions are not yet convinced that this approach is a key ingredient in successful treatment. And we do not have the skills to train staff and patients to create this type of positive, healing atmosphere.

Visiting Bhuj, India, in the aftermath of the earthquake of January 2001, she recalls how positive attitudes and feelings have an impact at times of extreme stress:

There was an atmosphere of panic and distress and I decided that I could help most if I maintained my own inner peace and calm. It was then that children and adults, who had gone into emotional numbness and shock, started to open up and share their feelings for the first time since the disaster struck. I felt a surge of trust from them, as though they knew they could receive solace here, even in the midst of the upheaval prevailing.

Being on the receiving end:
Many years ago, I was admitted to GHRC due to severe pain from a shoulder injury. The staff were amused and joked at having me for a patient! But they also gave attention and care with so much love that I found myself smiling and laughing back. I felt at home: comfortable and safe. I had spent 12 months before that with a frozen shoulder that would not heal and, unbelievably, I was out of hospital the next day!

Reflections:
Scientific studies show that our immune system is connected with our state of mind. We cannot always ask or expect a sick patient to be relaxed and positive, but hospital staff can help by providing a calm, positive and caring atmosphere for patients. Perhaps we, as healthcare providers need to master the art of healing by learning positive thinking skills, creating a positive attitude towards patients and a peaceful atmosphere. This may seem to be a ‘soft’ or subtle issue, but herein may lie the key to healing.

I am very pleased to support the work of the Janki Foundation in bringing these issues to the attention of health professionals now.

Interviewed by
Dr Kala Mistry,
Hospital Psychiatrist

Back To Top

---------------------------------------------------------------

Healing From Within: A visit to GHRC – 2001

Stillness … a smile … A signpost to gynaecology
where I am welcomed and we meet the Hospital Superintendant.
‘Humility’ springs to mind as we walk along the corridor:
Clarity of thought and purpose - no frills. Space … cleanliness
Modern … but there seems to be no rush …
Time for consideration… compassion…gentleness…

I start to understand: … time is not the ticking of seconds
On a clock. Time is a gift, it can go slowly … or slower … or
Accelerate and minutes pass in seconds, days and years
Without recollection… I have the impression that time is standing still:
You can open up and let your heart speak.
Allow healing to work from within.

Here spirituality works in a subtle way,
Breathing in and out of the walls of the corridors, wards
In theatres … reception … It breathes naturally …
You see it on the face, the smile, the bearing of those who work here
Or come for treatment. … … Where does it start?
How is this magical, calming, soothing atmosphere created?

Engulfed in gentleness, feet barely touching the ground …
Just a few doors ahead, I feel a pull … It attracts me
As it does others … … A meditation room …
Where stillness is waiting to be your friend,
Peace and contentment come to inhabit your heart.
Patients, staff, visitors … all gather here at intervals
Throughout the day … To still their minds and fill their hearts …

A deeper understanding grows in me
Of who we are, why we get ill.
Understanding the self is part of the healing process:
Dealing with “dis-ease” and not just failing organ or part.

The hospital has good facilities in intensive care,
In theatres and I witness ‘operating day’ in the original theatre
Modern anaesthetic techniques, good surgery performed.
The patient - acutely ill, distressed with severe burns
Or heart attack.… Receives up-to-date medical treatment …

I am both impressed and humbled by my experience here
This atmosphere of love and peace creates …
A place of healing … not failing systems or parts
Each patient is seen in his or her unique wholeness
Allopathy merges naturally with Ayurveda …
Homeopathy … Acupuncture … Magneto-therapy …

An eye-opener for me – Imagine all the gynaecology patients
Sitting round one consulting table, listening,
With candid interest to the ‘troubles’ of a fellow patient!

What did I bring back from India? … Gentleness
Care… and my attitude towards time transformed
Perhaps I too can hold time like a vessel holds water
And donate it as a gift, to others …

What change would I like to see in the UK, where I work?
I feel a meditation or quiet room,
For patients and staff alike,
To lift the atmosphere of the hospital and nurture
The gentler – more caring aspect in our profession.

Astrid Bendomir,
Gynaecologist, Aberdeeen Royal Infirmary

Back To Top

----------------------------------------------------------------

Time to Heal: April 2000

During a recent visit to Mount Abu, India, I had to be admitted to GHRC after sustaining an injury to my right leg. Despite the initial pain caused by a muscle tear, my stay turned out to be surprisingly pleasant. The hospital, architecturally and technologically modern, has cool, glass conservatories built into recesses, outdoor gardens and large spacious windows that allow nature’s beauty and calm to flow in.

I experienced straight away a kind of ‘magic’: I felt surrounded and supported by a genuine, unconditional, healing atmosphere. Every person who looked after me showed an attitude which was loving and compassionate but also clear-minded and competent. I felt both my soul and body were being well cared for, nourished and healed.

My treatment consisted of ancient Ayurvedic therapy and modern physiotherapy. The injury seemed to heal very rapidly and I started walking after one week rather than the two weeks I was anticipating. All in all, I left feeling it was indeed a special and worthwhile experience.

Michele Melon, Physiotherapist

Back To Top

---------------------------------------------------------------

A Fleeting visit: April 2000

Retirement from my hospital job as a Consultant Oral Surgeon in June of this year coincided with my wife, Genifer, retiring from her job as a dental hygienist and dental health educator. We asked if we could combine a few weeks’ work at the Global Hospital with the Brahma Kumaris’ ‘Peace of Mind’ retreat at Gyan Sarovar, Mount Abu, India.

September 26th saw us leaving Jersey not sure what lay ahead.


After a few days sightseeing in Mumbai, and getting used to India again, we met up with David Goodman from Leeds and flew up to Ahmedabad. We then embarked on an amazing journey by road, for 5 hours, to get up to Mount Abu.

We saw every imaginable sight from flocks of hundreds of sheep and goats on the road, to huge long camel trains. There were countless women working in colourful sarees, carrying everything imaginable on their heads, and the wonderful Rajasthani shepherds in their magnificent, huge, red turbans. We remembered again that a horn on a car is far more important than efficient brakes, as our driver hooted at everyone and everything and around every bend! We started to wonder what our destination would be like, and what standard the hospital would be!!

We arrived late that evening and settled into comfortable and cool rooms. The next morning we visited Global Hospital. The white building with its graceful curves is architecturally stunning, and the clever use of the slope at the back to build the wards, new theatres and staff accommodation ingenious.

But this isn’t a show hospital, it is for real, and that morning they had just admitted passengers from a car which had gone off the mountain road. The driver had been killed, one passenger was in theatre with a ruptured spleen, and the others were being X-rayed and treated in Casualty. There was an air of calm in the hospital. Consolation was being expertly given to the relatives by Brother Nirwair, Vice-President of The Janki Foundation and Managing Trustee of the Hospital, and yet he found time to welcome us in a relaxed manner. It was a most impressive example of being detached yet fully involved.

Next day we started ‘work’. I put it like that because everyone was keen we just enjoyed our visit. We visited the other clinics to talk to the staff in ENT, Radiology, Pathology, Surgery, Medicine and Opthalmology, which you would expect in any hospital, but here we also saw the staff in Ayurvedic medicine, Homeopathy and Magnetotherapy.

Here was a well-staffed hospital with a wide range of therapies available to patients.

The staff in the dental clinic were very welcoming and I was able to talk a little and demonstrate different ways we are doing things back home. They were all very receptive to ideas and to change, and I am sure when they move into their new four-surgery dental out-patient area, they will function almost identically to a ‘Western’ practice.

They will have a spare surgery and be able to attract interested dental surgeons from India and around the world to demonstrate up-to-date techniques. This would benefit the dental staff, but also dentists from further a field keen to learn modern dentistry in a tranquil atmosphere.

It struck me continually during my stay that everywhere in the hospital there was co-operation. People smiled at each other, nothing was too much trouble. Regretfully, the very qualities of care and compassion so many doctors start with have been lost in today’s rat-race. It was a real joy to work in such an atmosphere of love and positivity again.

The other highlights of our visit were to go out on the medical Out-Reach programme with Dr Vinay Laxmi. This was inspirational and since 80% of India exists still in rural villages it seemed so important to bring healthcare to these small communities.

Linked with the one-year training of student nurses, by the Nurse Education Department, who could go back and supervise health in the villages, one is hopeful for the future. It needs more staff, and for those like us back home who want to raise funds to help, it needs statistics of health now, with planned targets for the future, e.g. sanitation, feeding programmes for malnutrition etc.

During all this time, Genifer was active in the field of Dental Health Education and linking with Sister Matilda in the nurse training school, she saw how the student nurses, girls and boys, could be trained easily to recognise common dental problems. They then were able to return and visit the schools where their youthfulness and enthusiasm, and their knowledge of the local dialects enabled them to get the dental messages over. This needs regular visits to keep the message alive.

Despite natural fluoride in the water, tooth decay and gum disease are rife as tribal people have very sweet tea, and never use toothpaste! There would be scope for a dental health campaign, targeting villages ‘adopted’ by the outreach programme, with help from a major toothbrush/toothpaste manufacturer.

During our time I was excited to see the Coronary Heart Disease programme and the improvement through Raja Yoga meditation. I feel this is something the west could benefit from, and hope that the results of this fascinating project are published internationally.

I worked in the excellent operating theatre, and all the staff were so helpful and competent. Before we left on the last day we were privileged to see the opening of the new three-theatre operating complex. We had never seen the coconut breaking ceremony before and it was a privilege to throw and break our coconuts on the marble floors and wish success to the patients who will be cared for, so well, in the new operating theatres.

Finally, we will always remember the kindness of everyone, the tranquillity of the atmosphere, and the very high clinical standards being achieved.

Mr John Fleet,
Retired oro-maxillo-facial surgeon

Back To Top

---------------------------------------------------------------

Dying – A Healing Art
Seminar - November 1999


“It’s a funny old world and we’re lucky to get out of it alive!” WC Fields, Hollywood.

On Sunday 28th November an afternoon seminar entitled ‘Dying - a Healing Art’ was held at the Brahma Kumaris’ international coordinating centre, Global Co-operation House, London. It was an occasion for all present to let go of some of the more common and negative understandings surrounding death and to explore the process from a positive and spiritual perspective.

Dr. Ashok Mehta, consultant oncologist and specialist in head and neck surgery at several Bombay hospitals, India, talked of some basic spiritual concepts. “I see myself as a soul, living in and expressing myself through the body and so death is a passing through, not an end.” He contrasted the common modern, medical approach of struggle to keep the patient alive, with a spiritually aware attitude of peace-filled acceptance.

Dr. Nina Swires, consultant in palliative medicine, works with people “for whom death has gone wrong and is often a struggle”. She asks herself the question “How can I help those who are not spiritual to move towards peace?” In her clinical experience, she found the first step is often a transition from ‘Why me?’ to the deeper question of ‘Who am I?’ Typically, her patients shift from contemplating the loss of their now-redundant physical role to an appreciation of the value of relationships and how these outlive physical usefulness until, finally, they are able “to find an inner place of peace and forgiveness”. She stated for health workers, “We can support people in this ‘breakthrough’ but must be aware that death is a very personal experience.” In the final stages, one lady wrote, “They are my family and friends but there’s a part of me that doesn’t belong to them … It’s my death, not theirs.” Nina has observed, “The key seems to be to see it as a transition … to a new existence.”

Dr. Peter Fenwick, consultant neuropsychiatrist at the Maudsley, with a keen research interest in consciousness, expanded fascinatingly on the topic of transition. Using experimental and anecdotal data, he spoke about ‘death-bed visions’ as observed in an intensive care unit in 1959 and 1961. “Death bed visions”, he said, “appear in the last 24 hours, to herald death and are noted to frequently bring to the patient, peace, comfort and a readiness to move on.” In contrast, the near death experience (NDE), now very well documented, often brings a message on how to live. An air traffic-controller, in a BBC interview, explained, “It is impossible to die!” He experienced “my soul merging into the divine” and a feeling of unity with all humanity. Yet in relation to how we live, he commented, “You get exactly what you deserve ……it is utterly fair.”

In Dr Fenwick’s own study of NDE, which included those who had attempted suicide, he noted, “Typically there are feelings of peace and joy, a sense of freedom and time speeding up, traveling through a dark tunnel and seeing a light, usually described as an incredible white or golden-white light that is ‘universal love’, containing a mystical being thought to be God or a religious figure … and other figures usually relating to the patient personally or culturally. One person described a ‘wonderful landscape and such music’. Ultimately they reach a barrier of no return and have to make a decision to go on or return. Having returned, their fear of death is invariably removed.” Having previously recorded flat EEGs in unconscious patients, Dr. Fenwick suggested that “it is a likely conclusion that spiritual consciousness is separate from brain function.”

Dr Shirley Firth, having spent her youth in India (Andhra Pradesh), studied, for her doctoral thesis on world religions, the cultural approaches to death and dying of British Hindus. Using beautiful and humorous accounts, she illustrated the notion of a ‘good death’. Acceptance that death is OK and is purposeful is a requisite, as is confidence in the process, paying attention to unfinished business and learning how to ‘be’ rather than to ‘do’. A Hindu told her loved ones, “Don’t cry …your tears will make a river for me to cross …I’m going to God …Make me a light to show the way.” Others, such as ‘Grandma’, who didn’t feel it was polite to die while having visitors, demonstrated that it is possible to postpone death or to be aware of its timing and so to prepare.

Dr Firth concluded: “Illness often teaches patients how to ‘be’ and we, as health professionals, can help by learning to ‘be’ alongside the client, rather than ‘doing’. After all, the pain we think we observe may not be what the person is experiencing.”

Sister Jayanti, European Director of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, closed by relating the story of a recent ‘good death’ of a friend, a ‘modern Western woman’, who was able to make spiritual preparation before she passed on. Through being completely honest and clearing things in her mind, and practising the spiritual consciousness of being eternal and detached from her body, she was able to love and uplift others despite all her physical discomfort. Sister Jayanti emphasised the importance of actions so that “others remember the good that I’ve done and share blessings from their heart, not painful memories”. Giving the example of Dadi Janki “… who views every day as though it could be her last” she added, “Anyone can practise the spiritual awareness of being a point of light, functioning from the forehead and acting to bring happiness …and thus come close to the divine. It’s never too late; knowing the eternity of the soul, there is always an opportunity to make peace.”

The afternoon, interspersed with moments of beautiful flute music, closed in an atmosphere of silence and meditation.

Back To Top

---------------------------------------------------------------

Core Values in Medicine
Retreat - May 1999

The ‘Reflective Practitioner’ engendered the idea of an event that would look more thoroughly at core values in healthcare and seek to deepen the experience of reflective practice. Therefore a ‘participant-centred’ retreat was held in the uniquely peaceful setting of the Global Retreat Centre at Oxford, the emphasis being less on papers, presentations and speakers and more on harnessing the innate creativity, experience and wisdom of each individual.

Anne Radford enabled us to access our core values by using the method of Appreciative Inquiry by asking, “What attracts you about the theme of the weekend?” She encouraged us to uncover the values we already deploy as we shared what made a ‘high point’ in our working lives and which values underpinned that experience.

In the following plenary session, over fifty core values were identified, of which ten were selected for the next workshop, ‘The Poetry of Values’. Led by Anne Kilcoyne, we reflected on the images our value evoked: Freedom? Humility? What flower, what fruit, what landscape, what person do these values evoke in you? Taking us to the heart of our intuition, each of us wrote four lines of poetry or prose. This collated writing was harnessed in the next plenary session of one hour’s meditation. As the verses were read out, a special quality of stillness enveloped the room, the natural outcome of focussing on what we value and cherish in our work. I have selected a sample:

Humility
Humility is the gift you gave me
When I loved you through your dying days
Peace, dignity, acceptance
The memory of your loving ways

Courage
Courage is both loud and soft, both enduring and immediate.
Courage is the strength to accept fear and be open to criticism and threat.
Courage rises to the occasion and turns anxiety to confidence.
Courage sustains in adversity

Love
Green, green grass. Trees dancing on mountains,
Solid, strong, sustaining.
The glowing warmth of unconditional acceptance
Lets me be

Freedom
Freedom, the sprightly dance, the tossing head of yellow hair,
The mango juices coursing down my chin.
Freedom, the child’s cry of sheer joy,
Swimming the path of sunlight in the ocean of eternity

Intuition
Intuition is the essence of thought
The pearl of wisdom in the oyster of truth
The difference that makes the difference
Between the mundane and the divine

Integrity
To be safe enough to feel
To be wise enough to know
To be brave enough to do
To be free enough to grow

Honesty
A bed in a hospital, white sheets, steel bowls.
Her words were hard in the dying embers of her life.
She asked my forgiveness for her years of judgement.
The burden of my confusion slipped away and love suffused us both

Peace
From inner peace I will be speaking my truth
Gently but completely
Wearing it like a wing
To fly over all misunderstanding

Compassion
Compassion is a deep understanding of sorrow and pain
Dealt with by inner spiritual strength
Feelings of joy, love and peace shared by others

Connectedness
Calm water flows through my joy and sorrow
And carries me, connects me. In my journey from then to now
Alone we may feel, together we are.
Move a little, the ripples touch all

On Saturday evening Dadi Janki gave an inspiring talk on values, stressing the importance of the ‘diet’ we give our mind. Feeding it with virtues and qualities and not irrelevant chatter, our mind gives us all we need. Our minds and hearts can then create an atmosphere that patients take nourishment from. If we focus on their pain or sorrow, the unhappiness becomes contagious. If we remind our clients of their qualities and strengths, we help them to overcome on-going negative traits that prolong illness and confusion in their minds. Someone asked Dadi, “How do I avoid confusion?” Her reply was “…look after your self-esteem. Lose one virtue and your self-esteem shakes. Make values and virtues the basis of your life, not people or things.”

The evening was rounded off with entertainment: song, dance and a delightful piano recital, a ‘fitting dessert’ for a very nourishing day!

On Sunday morning we had a 'treasure hunt' for values which took us on a tour of all the significant monuments and vantage points of the retreat gardens, whilst encouraging reflection on our inner treasures. The final plenary session, chaired by Philippa Dolley (presenter of Woman’s Hour, Radio 4), was a panel interview and open discussion. Sister Jayanti spoke of the need for discipline to focus the mind peacefully. She particularly emphasised dignity and trust: the necessity of inner dignity and detachment to protect us in times of vulnerability whilst allowing respect to come through. Regarding trust, “It is when my conscience is guiding me, rather than my emotions, that I trust myself more and more and then I’ll reach out and trust you.”

Dr David Goodman, Community Dentist, currently working with Bradford Community Health Trust on an initiative to re-emerge values in the work place, spoke of the need to recognise and empower personal values, and to acknowledge and appreciate the values held by work colleagues. In his work, David feels it is the balance between compassion and detachment that is the vital ingredient. In the discussion that followed there was concern about poor communication, reactive responses and fragmentation within the NHS. Many participants, however, saw the latter as a necessary transitional phase to renewal and holism within medicine generally.

It was an extraordinary retreat, peaceful and relaxed, yet vibrant with hope, positivity, warmth and goodwill. Our heartfelt thanks went to Dr Eagger, the team of co-operative helpers, the excellent cooks and our hosts, the workshop creators: Anne Radford and Anne Kilcoyne, and the participants for sharing so generously their creativity and wisdom.

Carol Evans
MA, humanistic psychotherapist

Back To Top

---------------------------------------------------------------

The Art of Self Healing
Retreat - October 1998

This retreat was a wonderful exploration of the theme both within the plenary sessions and workshops and also over the dining tables and during walks in the grounds! Participants sought to understand the topics intellectually and spiritually in the warm, clear, friendly atmosphere offered by the Brahma Kumaris, our hosts at the Global Retreat Centre.

On the first evening, we considered whether the process of healing is it an art or a science. I don’t think we answered this, but we asked many questions such as ‘What is the self?’ ‘What is being healed?’ ‘What is the healing process?’ and even ‘What is “the art”?’

Many descriptions of the healing process emerged over the weekend:

“The practitioner guides the patient across a meandering, turbulent river; they sit in the canoe together and need to skilfully negotiate rapids and all other obstacles that occur in their path.” Dr Ray Bhatt.

“The spiritual healing approach, such a puzzle to the mechanistic scientific mind, is that when kind thoughts of good, positive, healing feelings are directed to an individual it can have a measurable effect on the patient.” [Dr Craig Brown, GP] “The spiritual view of illness is that it has a purpose; it is there as a gift with signposts on it to help you progress spiritually. That is a very radical view to take on board.”… “An outcome in healing could be improvement of dignity and personal growth as well as the removal of symptoms.”

Jayanti Kirpalani, Trustee: “For me everything starts inside in terms of the spirit. What am I carrying in terms of my feelings? Healing is to be able to come back to the natural state of being – of love, peace, joy and truth that is the destination and also the journey. I will give to others whatever I have within, so I must find a way to acknowledge the pain and return to my state of joy.”

“Welcome the illness – love it and engage with it. We know there is a connection between mind and body - we can use it to heal or to destroy.” Maurice Newbound, Vice-President of the British Complementary Medicine Association

We then asked ourselves, ‘What do I do to heal myself – meditation, music, relaxation, walking - or do I push myself?’ As practitioners we need to take care of ourselves so that our strength and insight can help patients; sometimes defences are required to protect us from burnout but to be sensitive and accepting of our own vulnerability is essential for healing. To self-heal, we need to create space for silence and self-nurture with the right food of positive thoughts.

Regarding the patient-practitioner relationship, so crucial for the healing process and for the well-being of both, the practitioner seeks to be fully present mentally and physically, empowering clients through information, insights and advice, to bring out their own natural healing mechanisms. As we work with patients we should ask ourselves: What are we going to learn? What is our attitude towards them? What are our expectations? What is our vision? Do we feel responsible for their illness? Ultimately, they have created it and are responsible for it. In this partnership, we have a certain understanding that we share but the client decides what to do with it. Thus we guide them to be independent.

Also discussed was the topic of how values influence our state of well-being. Here follows a synopsis of what I found of interest:

Belief: Do you believe you can be well? Do you believe in yourself? Self-esteem is a tool to help enhance self-belief.

Love: Words of love heal. I heal myself through being rested, peaceful and silent. Let me maintain my interest in spirituality as this gives strength to my body and mind.

Faith: Faith in my eternal self first and in the higher power, God. Faith in that Supreme energy brings inner strength, courage and energy automatically and very naturally. Without faith, there is fear. Research shows that the process of healing is more powerful and effective in patients and families who have faith.

Humour: Humour is also linked to healing and may be defined as creating a state of inner happiness that is independent of the situation and outside influences. Humour enhances the immune system and raises our pain threshold.

Honesty: Honesty strengthens the heart and allows us to avoid performing any actions that make us weak.

Acceptance: By acknowledging the feeling of discomfort or limitation on any level, we can work to resolve it. We cannot change others, situations, or the weather but we can change our responses to diseases, people, situations etc.

Trust: I trust the patient(s) to take the treatment – do patients trust themselves to? Do we trust ourselves to treat patients?

Choice: Choice and trust are inter-linked. Tending to just absorb and not deliberately choose our thoughts, we need to set time aside and use a filter to consciously develop a real vision of the self which is absolutely natural and healthy. For the spirit, the natural state of health is to have love, peace and joy yet, currently, we have moved so far to being ill-at-ease.

Learning: To be able to learn from mistakes of the past and have the courage to change without carrying a burden of guilt.

Good Actions: Whatever you have to do, do it now without going into what it was like in the past or how you may respond in the future: focus on the present.

Wealth: Some people feel wealth creates health and others say it destroys it. Health does not entirely depend on our budget but using wealth in a worthwhile way maintains health. Using it for others, we receive blessings and good wishes and these make us strong.

Joy Rendell
Senior Occupational Therapist and
Trustee of The Janki Foundation

Back To Top

---------------------------------------------------------------

A Valuable Service
December 2000

Anne Radford, management consultant with a special interest in health care, visited GHRC earlier this year. This is her interview with Dr. Roy Chowdhury, orthopaedic surgeon, on 6th April 2000, followed by her interview with Dr. Chandiramani.

Background:
Roy Chowdhury has been at GHRC for a year. He sees about 36 to 44 patients per day and they come by word of mouth, from up to 50 - 100 kilometres away. He operates three days a week in a separate theatre from the other surgeons so that he may operate any time and patients do not have to wait long.

Sadly, many of his patients have neglected or advanced disease. Roy thinks this is because the locals prefer to take indigenous treatment with which they are more familiar. This can lead to complications like infected bone which is difficult to treat and takes time to heal.

AR: What drew you here?
RC: My wife and I both work here. We heard about the position through an ad in the medical press. I was in private practice in Calcutta making a lot of money but life was very hectic and I would get home when my son was asleep. Tension and stress were rife there and litigation issues always cropping up in the background.

Now, I find living is much more enjoyable than before. I have accepted a financial drop but have 'promoted' myself in terms of mental peace. Commuting is no longer a headache as I can walk to the hospital!

Most of the work here is similar to other parts of India, including the equipment, but the operating theatre is the best in India! Since I have been operating here, there have been no infections. Surgery is much easier.

AR: What makes operating here different? Is the theatre team different?
RC: One day we worked from 8am to 8pm doing four complicated operations (total knee replacements). The team had not done them before and did not know what to expect. At the end of the day, everyone was tired but there were no complaints! We treated our patients and focused on our task; we were uninterested in the financial incentives of this. You can't do this at other hospitals!

Also, in 13 months here I have not shouted! In Calcutta, people would get very agitated. Yet we were doing the same work as here. People work well here even when precision and good camera management is required. They just do it.

AR: How do you feel about the spiritual values here?
RC: I didn’t know anything about the ethos here before I arrived but I like every aspect of it. The environment is good and I find I can pick things up with my heart and my eyes. I can make people feel comfortable in their surroundings. The anaesthetist is superb and good spiritual company! I have no problems with being vegetarian. I used to smoke but gave up just prior to relocating here as it was affecting my family. Here, I have no compulsion to do anything wrong!!

AR: Does this type of healthcare have a future elsewhere?
RC: Yes. I would definitely support replication of this model elsewhere. My capacity to work has increased by perhaps 33%. I work faster. I used to spend all the evenings prior to surgery preparing cases. Now, I go to the operating room and do what is required and if I don’t need to operate, I don’t.

Anne Radford also met Dr Indu Chandiramani, Director of Nursing. This meeting was very brief and focussed on the principles of nursing care.

Background:
The nursing department has qualified nurses who give injections and handle medication, and nursing assistants who help with general ward work. These assistants study for one year: six months theory and six months practice, after which they are awarded a certificate.

AR: How do you recruit the nurses?
IC: Most of them have seen the hospital before and wish to work here. Other nurses are local and looking for a job in the area and they like the ethos here. They enjoy the values of love, cooperation, compassion and care and also the tangible serenity here - the absence of chaos.

AR: Would you say values are the focus of nursing here?
IC: The nursing is focused on the patient, with an emphasis on giving comprehensive care - physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual - in a practical way. Most of the staff pauses for reflection at intervals throughout the day in order to create an atmosphere of calm. Listening and caring are augmented by introducing aspects of spirituality. Some staff may also teach patients meditation or positive thinking.

For the staff, we have a continuing education programme to update us and develop skills. We are fortunate in having visitors from India and abroad who often give updates on specialist topics such as diabetes, care of critical patients, infection control and so on.

Back To Top