Social Responsibility

AIIMS Rishikesh has a mandate of providing primary care and outreach medical services to the community at large scale. The Institution ensures equitable access to these health care services. Besides providing facility based medical care, the institution promotes participation of all departments to actively engage in providing outreach health care services. These services include Promotive, Preventive as well as Curative care. These outreach programs play a critical role in improving and extending the reach of health care through activities such as health education, awareness,patients management, basic health screening, and facilitating access to services in AIIMS Rishikesh. These activities can directly and indirectly improve health outcomes of individuals and communities. Social outreach cell of the Institute has been continuously participating in outreach services in remote and hard to reach area of Uttarakhand. Outreach cell is frequently getting request from NGO, different stakeholders from society and others village organization to provide health services in form of health camp and awareness programme in most needy area of Community. In order to coordinate between different departments for organizing these outreach activities, Nodal officer and outreach staff have regular planning, meetings, discussion and inter sectoral coordination with others departments and faculty of the institute.  We have an extensive program of social outreach activity, including on-campus and off-campus social awareness workshops, competitions and donation drives.The three main goals of an outreach program are to improve learning, promoting civic engagement for health & wellbeing, and strengthening communities through addressing their societal needs.

The objective of the Social outreach cell is

• To improve the health status of the people in rural underserved and inaccessible areas through high-quality preventive, promotive, curative healthcare services at their door steps.
• To screen and identification of red signal (risk factors) for upcoming disease in order to prevent the disease at pre-pathogenesis stage among outreach and rural population.
• To organise disease focused health check-up and awareness camp with adequate follow up to generate evidences and mobilise the outreach and vulnerable population for health and wellness. (Wellness Programe)
• To provide and strengthen primary health care through inter-sectorial coordination among NGOs, Rural development authority and local leaders exclusively in rural and remote area.

The outreach program involves working closely with the district and village level healthcare administration and also with the ASHA, Anganwadi workers and ANMs on the ground. A concerted effort was made to involve the community in delivering these services and that is the hallmark of a good community outreach program. Well organized and efficient fleet management systems, real-time monitoring and outcome orientation ensured continuity of service delivery.

The Community Outreach Program is a platform that can be integrated with other public health, national programme and others existing community welfare Programme. Social, economic, cultural and behavioural domain of human life are also addressed by outreach cell to ensure the productive health and wellbeing of community.

I) Departmental/Cell activity: 2017-2022

a) Health awareness/ educational activities organized by department/Cell

We all are facing an unprecedented situation and witnessing a historic period in this Covid-19 era. An international webinar on “Psychological well-being among youth during Covid-19” was organised by the Social outreach cell, AIIMS Rishikesh in collaboration with Uttarakhand Sciences Education and Research Centre (USERC). This event aimed to address academic, personnel, emotional and social stress of youth during COVID-19 pandemic and coping strategy by eminent national and international speakers.

We all are facing an unprecedented situation and witnessing a historic period in this Covid-19 era. An international webinar on “Psychological well-being among youth during Covid-19” was organised by the Social outreach cell, AIIMS Rishikesh in collaboration with Uttarakhand Sciences Education and Research Centre (USERC). This event aimed to address academic, personnel, emotional and social stress of youth during COVID-19 pandemic and coping strategy by eminent national and international speakers.

• The Nodal Officer of Social Outreach Cell Santosh Kumar has been awarded by following awards for his outstanding work during the covid-19 pandemic: –
• Corona Yodha.Award on International women day 8 march 2021 by AsahayJankalyanSewaSimiti Dehradun
• The Teacher of the Year Award 2020 byUttarakhand government.
• Appreciation certificate for outreach activity from Rotary Rishikesh Central
• “AmbedkarRatn “ for excellent outreach services in Community

AIIMS Rishikesh has established COVID-19 Community Task Force, with the aim to create awareness regarding the COVID-19 protective conception among the community. Also the problems & difficulty related to COVID-19 is addressed through an online support system operated by the Department of Community and Family Medicine, AIIMS, Rishikesh.

Mask bank was started by AIIMS Rishikesh Covid-19 Community Task Force on the auspicious occasion of Vijay Dashami on 25-10-2020 at TriveniGhat to provide masks to the common people, especially to those who cannot afford to purchase it due to lack of money. At present the mask bank is running with the support of AIIMS administration and social organization. Moreover, People present at TriveniGhat during the inauguration was also educated regarding the importance of wearing masks and to be maintain two    yards distance to prevent corona infection.

This was the first attempt in Uttarakhand state and now the competent public is requested to come forward and donate the mask. Further, these masks will be distributed to needy and poor people.

• More than 80,000 masks were distributed by social outreach cell AIIMS Rishikesh.
• Under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan we have adopted five villages and continuously we are providing services to the villages.
• Social Outreach Cell has started Covid-19 task force news letter from January 2021.

• Adoption of new villages under UDAAN programme.
• Development of voluntary health task force in community to address primary care at rural and remote area
• To start the certificate courses/diploma in “Primary care and rural health”
• To start diploma courses in “leadership and management progrme in public health”
• To establish “Rural and Outreach centre for health and wellness”

India is a developing country, where health is a big concern to be addressed and not surprisingly health is the least bothered subject among the people in India. Therefore, in Uttarakhand at AIIMS Rishikeshhas  established a division called the social outreach cell, working collaboratively with the department of community and family medicine. Under the dynamic leadership of Director AIIMS RishikeshPadmashree  Prof Ravi Kant.

 Social outreach cell is established to full fill the distinctive gap between a healthcare setup and interior outreach community of Hilly Uttarakhand. Its core principle is to make people a self-sustainable entity in health care  and to enlarge the spectrum of primary healthcare in India.

To seed the theory of primary healthcare, we emphasize on health awareness, counselling, training, and home based care. Adjourning this, we have several projects that are being implemented under the social outreach cell. Few of them also stands for the Social issues such as women empowerment, sanitation, and occupational health hazards. We also focus on evidence base practices, community based participatory research and in return try to obtain solution to the problem aroused.

It is a community with a wealth of cultural heritage. However, the hilly geographic terrain of this community (several hills that go as high as 500 – 6000 meter interspersed at unequal intervals) and the often inaccessible road to the location result in a great inequality in access and provision of healthcare services to people in this location.

Social accountability in health care and medical education has been the hallmark of AIIMS Rishikesh, AIIMS Rishikesh runs Social Outreach Cell to provide health care services and  aware about the Health seeking behaviour & hygiene etc. in Hilly areas of UttarakhandIndia.

Outreach cell are assigned tasks relating to interpersonal communication in order to bring about behavioural change and provide services in relation to maternal and child health, family welfare, nutrition, immunization, stress, diarrhoea control and control of communicable diseases programmes.

Under the guidance and supervision of Hon’ble Director of AIIMS, Rishikesh is providing free healthcare for Himalayan mountainous community from 2017.

Sometimes medical team climbs some mountains & and walk miles on pedal path to provide to health services to the deprived and also climbed several rocks of varying heights in order to get to this community. Someday team have to stay for two to four days in community to provide health services. the team comprising of doctors, pharmacists, public health experts, nurses, community healthworkers, Medical Social Worker together with local volunteers.

Diagnostic cum therapeutic camps have been made annual event. Our First camp was held in October 2017. Till now Approx. 1,03226needy were helped from social Outreach Cell.

Social outreach cell is providing Health services in

Narayankoti(Near kedarnath Temple)

Peepalkoti to the pilgrims of ChardhamYatra

Tehri&Koteshwar dam affected community and also many hard  to reach area of Uttarakhand and adjacent  state