Kolkata: With the increase in demand for grief counselors in Bengal, the state government has decided to recruit more such counselors.
They counsel the relatives of the patients suffering from cancer, brain stroke and other critical diseases. Senior officials of the state government said they had seen that relatives of the patients often get demoralised after hearing about the disease. This leads them to depression. A senior official of the state Health department said: "The primary work of the grief counselors include counseling the relatives of the patients suffering from depression. Even grief counselors give advice to relatives of the patient on how a patient can get better treatment in other hospitals and provide details of the state-run hospitals."
The grief counselors also coordinate with the concerned doctors of the patient and give feedback to the relatives of the patient on how they can provide the best medical support in their home. Dr Subir Ganguly, a senior cancer specialist said: "The importance of grief counselors has been increasing in the medical field.Thanks to the state government that they have taken up the initiative to appoint more grief counselors in the state-run medical colleges."