Have you heard of telemedicine? Also called e-medicine, it’s a remote clinical service which is delivering healthcare services using technology. For the first time in Rukum, a remote clinical service was successfully implemented last week to innovatively tackle mental health care in remote areas.

This proved immensely useful as it was able to help 44 individuals (35 women) suffering from various mental health conditions such as anxiety disorder (27 cases), epilepsy (4 cases), psychosis (6 cases), seizure (2 cases), and alcohol disorder (5 cases). This service included 18 health workers from 11 health facilities of Bhume and Putha Uttarganga Rural Municipality and Health Office. A big thank you to UMN Rukum Cluster and its partner N-PAF for this great initiation.

UMN expresses sincere appreciation to the senior psychiatrist from Kathmandu who ensured that the health workers received expert guidance to manage and treat all mental health conditions effectively. The telemedicine sessions were followed by comprehensive coaching sessions to the health workers which was also facilitated by him.

This initiative marks a significant step forward in improving access to mental health services in remote areas like Rukum East. By leveraging technology, the project successfully overcame geographical barriers, offering continued support to both patients and healthcare providers.