The Medico-Pastoral Association, Bangalore: Beyond Rehabilitation

AbstractThe rehabilitation of persons with mental illness and making them life-ready again was a concept that was unheard of in the late nineteen sixties and seventies. The ground-breaking work done by Dr Joyce Siromoni to bring this need to the forefront laid the foundation for The Medico-Pastoral Association (MPA), Bangalore, as we know it today. From being a wholly volunteer-led and funded initiative in the first few years of its operations to its current system, the Medico-Pastoral Association has established itself as a pioneer in mental health care in India and made its mark as the country ’s first Half-Way Home and residential rehabilitation centre. The MPA is a structured and cohesive therapeutic community that follows a goal-oriented, multi-dimensional, multi- faceted approach to residential rehabilitation, focussed on reintegration (Pathak 2015), without compromising on kindness . At present, the MPA is home to 32 residents (half-way home, extended care, Long-term care and day care programs included) and 50 years since its initiation, it stands proud even today as the provider of compassionate and uncompromising mental health care and advocacy. Bangalore’s first telephon ic suicide prevention helpline, SAHAI, was an MPA/NIMHANS/Rotary initiative and has been operational from within the MPA premises since 2002.
Source: Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Mental Health - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research