Hyderabad, July 01: A team of qualified and well-trained Psychiatric Social counselors will be assisting patients Institute of Mental Health (IMH) – Eragadda, the state-run tertiary center for mental Health.
Helping Hand Foundation, the health care nonprofit that provides voluntary patient care support services and systems in state run hospitals has now collaborated with IMH to enhance patient care & counseling services.
The Counseling services are mapped in the Discharge Ward (DC Ward) where the patients who have completed treatment & are mentally stable but yet to be taken back by their families, the de-addiction ward & the Clinical Psychology department, apart from the In-Patient wards, counselors will assist patients in the OPD Block and in the pharmacy block.
A total of 5 Psychiatric Social workers, 2 in DC Ward and de-addiction ward, 1 in Clinical Psychology ward and 2 in OPD have been assigned the duty as per the roster issued by the hospital.
The main task of Counselors in the DC & de addiction ward will be to enhance family support, communication and patient social engagement. The counselors are tasked to have daily interactions with the family members to help reconnect the patients back to the family, since the launch of the counselling services 17 patients have been successfully rejoined with their families.
Apart from this, the counselors are engaging in helping them do yoga, stretching, and breathing exercises. There is a library area where they read newspapers and books, practice writing etc. Cognitive behavioral activities, brain games, recreational therapy along with motivational sessions are some of the other activities which the counselors are helping the patients perform.
In addition to the helpdesk services, HHF has also contributed towards improving patient welfare by providing 50 plastic chairs, indoor games, wall fans, a large screen LED TV and by undertaking civil works, wall painting in the female ward, toilet renovation works and other infrastructure improvements.
The Counselors services at IMH were formally inaugurated by Dr. K. Shiva Prasad, Superintendent IMH, in presence of Senior RMOs and staff of the hospital on 1st July 2026.