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Family perspectives in the care and support of tuberculosis patients: An Indian context

2017; Medknow; Volume: 5; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4103/2320-8775.202899

2320-9089

Janmejaya Samal,

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia detection and treatment

Tuberculosis (TB) has been a major public health crisis throughout the globe, so also in India. Around one-fourth of TB cases are found in India. Currently, the Government of India implements TB control program through a centrally sponsored program known as the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP). The program is being implemented at community level through Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) strategy and is provided though DOTS providers. Despite all these efforts in the country, failures, relapses, and treatment defaulters are common throughout the nation. Families play a greater role in TB control, as the treatment duration of TB is protracted compared to other clinical conditions. Furthermore, TB patients require a great degree of support in terms of care, nutritional and livelihood support. Sometimes, long-term treatment and more pills on a daily or intermittent basis make the patient uncomfortable to continue with the treatment, and the patient discontinues the therapy in the middle of the course. Thus, to increase treatment adherence, a great degree of family support is necessary. In this study, the role of families in TB care has been narrated, in which both the positive and negative aspects of families have been delineated in an Indian perspective.