Indian Spinal Injuries Centre organizes ASCoN Peer Counseling Workshop from 5th to 9th October 2009
The workshop aims to draft ASCoN Peer Counseling Guidelines and Standards and conduct a Peer Counseling Training Programme
Tweet-- In order to improve the quality and coverage of psychological counseling and support services for people with spinal injuries, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre is organizing an ASCoN Peer Counseling Workshop from 5th to 9th October. The workshop inaugurated by Maj. H.P.S Ahluwalia, Chairman, ISIC would be attended by Peer Counselors and specialists from the Asian Spinal Cord Network, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India.
Peer counseling is part of the rehabilitation of the patient. It involves a peer counselor - who has suffered from a disability, has knowledge & coping skills- who will in turn counsel other patients to cope up with their disability related problems. The goal of peer counseling is directed towards helping patients meet his/her personal needs of functioning more fully, taking control of his life, his community and his job. A Peer counselor can provide a lot of psychological support to the patient and can help them come out of their depression and can also advise the patient on ways of coping with this problem, from their personal experiences.
“Given the high number of spinal injury patients there is a need for proper peer counseling in order to help the distressed patients. The need and relevance of Peer Counseling Programs is based on the requirement of having proper guidelines in rehabilitating spinal injury patients. The workshop aims to formulate ASCoN Peer Counseling Guidelines and Standards and improve the skills of Peer counselors through Peer Counseling Training Programmes” says Maj. HPS Ahluwalia, Chairman, ISIC.
After coming out of the shock of suffering from a spinal injury, an individual needs to know when he would start walking again, when he would have control over his physiological activities like bowel and bladder movement, sexuality etc. Counseling spinal injury patients is more about providing information rather than counseling in the real term. “Any healthy person who was normally walking and moving would get a shock when he would be told that he may not walk again. He will be depressed, helpless and may even contemplate suicide. The role of a peer counselor along with the psychologist becomes very crucial in deciding the time of breaking the bad news to the patient and in helping him cope with the changed life" says Dr. Chitra Kataria.
“Statistics on occurrence of spinal cord injuries in India clearly shows that victims of spinal cord injuries fall in the most productive age group of 20 – 40 years with 75% of them being male. Hence there is a strong requirement of good vocational counseling and training in order to help patients become economically well rehabilitated”, says Dr. H.S Chhabra, Medical Director, ISIC.
“A good counselor is a person who can show sincere empathy towards other people's problems, be able to communicate effectively, share personal experiences, be trusting and have knowledge & skills that would be helpful for the patient”, says Shivjeet Singh Raghav, Peer Counselor, ISIC.
In addition to the above a peer counselor must also have a 'rights bearing' attitude. This involves an understanding and acceptance of the fact that people with disabilities have the same rights and responsibilities as all other individuals. That is, they have the right to make contracts, hold a drivers license, make a will, marry, adopt or bear children, hold and convey property, equal educational rights, equal employment opportunity, and an opportunity to vote and participate in political affairs. This suggests that the peer counselor must have a fair knowledge about many issues related to disabilities.
Notes to Editor
About Indian Spinal Injuries Centre:
Indian Spinal Injuries Centre is the national leader in spinal cord injuries and is the most advanced super specialty hospital cum rehab center in South Asia. Besides treating disorders of the spine, it is equipped for complete healthcare. ISIC is a trusted provider of medical care, rehabilitation, research, education and advocacy. It has a state-of-the-art intensive care unit apart from the present 100 in-patient beds, operation theaters with the latest medical equipment that allows surgeons to perform even the most complicated surgeries with ease. Apart from this, it provides round the clock emergency services with ambulance facilities. One of the unique features of the building is to provide a totally barrier free environment.
About ASCoN (Asian Spinal Cord Network):
ASCoN was formed in 2001 and consists of a group of organisations in the Asia region that have come together to share and learn from each other in all aspects of spinal cord injury management, from initial treatment of the patient to re-integration of the person. ASCoN became an affiliated society of the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) in 2004.The need for and relevance of ASCoN are based on the premise that countries with similar cultures facing similar problems in relation to rehabilitation would benefit more from a regional learning and sharing forum, rather than a wider, purely international one. Today ASCoN has 74 member organizations based in 18 countries throughout Asia.