Spotlight

A HELPing Hand

Here's a library that is striving hard to administer 'information therapy.' Nancy Singh dips in and comes back empowered

Knowledge is power, they say. A patient who is unsure of what the doctor is about to do with his body, would completely agree. It is precisely for such patients that Mumbai-based infertility specialist Dr Aniruddha Malpani established the Health Education Library for People (HELP) at DN Road in Mumbai. "Today, the healthcare system is too doctor-centric. When a patient goes to a cardiologist, he decides what treatment to provide. The patient might not be aware of other alternatives. This library helps them understand their condition and various treatment modalities, better. Also, given the doctor-patient ratio in India (0.6 to 10,000), the doctor hardly has any time to talk to a patient," says Dr Malpani, Director of HELP.

US Inspiration

The idea of creating a library emerged during Dr Malpani's visit to the US, when he was amazed at the extent of patient information. "Patient education is a multi-million dollar industry there," remarks Dr Malpani.

He and his wife Dr Anjali used their personal resources to set up HELP in 1997— a place where anybody can go and read about health and disease. Dr Malpani opened the library with an impressive collection of 2,000 books. "We wrote to the editor of a US magazine called 'Prevention' after which help came from many corners and my experience says that doctors are a generous lot."

An international agency (International Book Project) also helped by donating around 500 books for free.

Originally located at Kemps' Corner in Mumbai, the library was later shifted to DN Road, right in the heart of the city. Today, the bookshelves proudly boast of 10,000 books on varied subjects. - See BOX.

Information Prescription

The library has an impressive collection of around 10,000 books

HELP is the country's first consumer health education resource centre. The library runs as a charitable trust and non-profit organisation. Dr Malpani explains, "We believe that information is the best prescription!"

The library gains more significance in view of rising medico-legal cases. "Hundreds of reports demonstrate that 95 per cent of medico-legal cases occur due to a communication breakdown between the patient/relatives and the doctor." Dr Malpani believes that such a place can be an excellent reference for doctors, so that the patient is kept in the loop. "In practice, a doctor does not have enough time to spend with each patient. In addition, patients are daunted by a lot of medical jargon. Here is a place where you can just sit and learn as much as possible."

Whilst patient-education is the key objective, HELP is a useful resource for doctors as well, to know the patient's perspective better. "Our library helps in enhancing the doctor-patient relationship as our books help the doctor to empathise with the patient's needs and concerns," avers Dr Malpani.

The library also gives medical writers and journalists useful in-depth insight. It enables patients to form support groups to help each other cope with their disease. It also prevents health fraud and enables people to see through quacks by educating them medically.

Apart from its books, HELP has over 400 CD-ROMS which are free to view. The rooms are air-conditioned and provided with photocopying facilities. Also, there's a lecture hall that can accommodate around 70 people with a projector and large screen, which is often used for talks and demonstrations. In fact, they have a health talk for one hour every day, which has got them an entry into the Limca Book of Records as the longest running series of health talks in the country.

Dr Malpani started off with an investment of Rs 5 lakh and the cost has shot up to around Rs 30 lakh every year. Despite acclaim, there have not been many generous monetary donations. "I have a clinic that runs quite well. I do not really need money and I try to manage with my personal funds and my wife's help. It's more word-of-mouth publicity that I require, so more people will make use of our free services," he beams.

Complete texts of many books and magazines are available for free online access at a dedicated website (http://www.healthlibrary.com). "This health portal receives almost over half a million visits every month from all over the world," he boasts. This began way back in 1997, much before the digital revolution. The library is open six days a week from 10.00 am-6.30 pm. HELP gets almost 50 visitors per day on an average and has around 30 regular members. "Many people are not inclined towards a membership as most of them just prefer to sit and read the books here. But yes, those who live further away do avail of our memberships," informs Dr Anuja Joshi, Medical Manager.

Spreading Wings

The ultimate aim is to go national and collaborate with as many corporates as possible. "We are looking at partnering with hospitals for patients and their relatives to sit and read. This can be a good way to improve patient care as well. No one likes to wait. If the patient/ relative is provided with a space to read about their disease, it would satisfy them more," says Dr Malpani. HELP also plans to use technology to increase its reach and plans to provide information via SMS.

While the challenges are high, so are the ambitions. "We are talking about a change of the mindset and luckily the younger generation of doctors are much more flexible and confident in dealing with a well-informed, educated patient," avers Dr Malpani.

Regardless of how much Dr Malpani alone manages to change rigid mindsets, a positive step has already been taken. Anyone who is inclined can just click online and become a part of this change.

Dr Malpani concludes, "We hope that well-informed patients will demand the best available treatment from their doctors, which will act as an incentive to update doctors' skills and for hospitals to improve their facilities."

nancy.singh@expressindia.com