The HIV/AIDS Helpline Is an Effective Tool of Communication

Background and Objectives: With the evolution of mobile technology, the cell phone has become a medium of communication for all manner of diseases. So far no study has been done in India to assess the effectiveness of an AIDS Helpline and that too as a stand-alone service. The objective of this study was to determine if the callers to the HIV/AIDS Helpline found it to be an effective tool of communication. Methods: All the calls received on ASHA Foundation’s HIV/AIDS manual helpline during the period of three years from April 2009 to March 2012, were included in this study. At the end of each call, the counselor asked the caller if he found the call useful and if so why he found it useful. If the caller did not find the call useful he also needed to say why he did not find it useful. Details of each call were recorded and entered on MS excel worksheet and finally analyzed using the SPSS software package. Results: The Helpline received 4692 calls during this period of which?90.9 % calls were from males and 9.1% calls were from females. Of the 4692 calls, 38.72% were from repeat callers. Of the 2875 first time callers, 85.07% responded and said that they found the helpline useful. Responses could not be elicited from the remaining 17% as the calls were disconnected before the question could be asked. Conclusions: Callers to the helpline were mostly male;38.7% called again. All the callers who responded said that they found the helpline useful. Thus it is an effective tool of communication and could to be used to complement advanced care in HIV/AIDS.

A Telephone Helpline Assessment of Psychosocial Needs of Adults with Cancer Post Institute of Medicine (IOM) Recommendations

Objective: To explore whether the 2007 IOM recommendations had an impact on the reasons for calls to a cancer telephone helpline and determine the major reasons for calls at two different time periods after the 2007 recommendations. Methods: Caller data with identifiers removed were extracted from a cancer helpline database. Baseline data included calls made to the helpline between April 2, 2008 and September 2, 2009 (Period 1). Then, a second data set was built from data collected between September 3, 2009 and May 2, 2011 (Period 2). Results: The major reasons for calls to the cancer telephone helpline during the two different time periods were the same: financial assistance, helpline services information, coping assistance, support groups, and questions related to treatment. Four of the top five reasons were non-treatment related (i.e., financial issues, helpline services information, coping, and support). Conclusions: The nature of calls to the helpline suggests that the financial and psychosocial needs of people with cancer are not being addressed by healthcare providers. Practice implications: The new “normal” for cancer care includes decisions about complex care coupled with new regulatory and financial constraints. This underscores the importance of focused planning of cancer care across multiple care settings in order to ensure continuity of care for the whole person.

Patterns of Violence Experienced by Women Victims of Domestic Violence in Bengaluru City:A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction:Domestic violence has negative effects on the physical health and mental health of women.Domestic violence takes various forms:physical,psychological,sexual,and emotional abuse.Many organizations are working with women and their families to prevent and reduce instances of violence.The current study aimed to understand the various patterns of violence among women victims of domestic violence.Materials and Methods:The sample of 30 women approaching the women’s helpline,in Bengaluru was considered for the study using a cross-sectional design.The interview schedule for assessing patterns of violence was used.Descriptive statistics were used for analyzing the data.Results:The majority of the respondents(50%)were in the age group of 20-29 years,more than half(53.3%)were homemaker and the majority(70%)stayed in nuclear family structures.More than one-fourth reported severe physical violence such as pushing,slapping,and punching.Most of the respondents reported husbands to be perpetrators of violence,60%reported violence as a habit,and the majority reported dowry harassment as the reason for violence.Conclusion:Mental health professionals need to work on the root cause of habitual violence and dowry harassment perpetrated by the spouse and empower the victims.