Sri Sathya Sai Rehabilitation Programme (SRP) is a unique programme under which volunteers of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations all over the country help in follow up of cardiac patients who have been operated in the Sri Sathya Sai Hospitals. It is indeed a unique programme as no other hospital, corporate or charitable, goes to this extent for follow up of its patients. The SRP is currently spread across around 11 states of India namely, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. Every month the list of operated patients is sent from both the Super Speciality hospitals to the State Sai Seva Organisations and then the patients are followed up to access whether they following the required protocols as advised in the hospitals. Help is also extended to the patients in need. This helps in making sure that the patients get the complete benefit of the treatment given to them in Swami’s hospitals.

SRP in Odisha  

In Odisha, the SRP was started 4 years ago as a mark of gratitude to Bhagawan for the thousands of patients from our state who have got a new lease of life from these Temples of Healing. The Sai Youth of Odisha have taken up SRP as one of their flagship programmes. Every District has a District SRP In-charge who coordinates with SRP volunteers in over 200 Sai Samithis of the state. They are guided by the State team comprising the State SRP in-charge and 4 zonal in-charges taking care of a cluster of districts each. Each district has an identified SRP doctors who help in follow up and timely referral of the patients when needed. The volunteers are given training on interpretation of Discharge summary of SSSIHMS, advice to be given to the patients and basic working knowledge of post cardiac follow up.

Patient meets – Antaranga Sai- are held at the Samithi and District level where patients share their experiences, are given medical and lifestyle advice and undergo a medical check-up. The patients are also referred to Sri Sathya Sai Telemedicine Centre in Bhubaneswar for follow up with the hospitals directly. By Bhagawan’s immense grace, Sri Sathya Sai Trust Odisha has set up a Cardiac Outreach Centre with ECG and Echo facilities, which further help in patient follow up. Apart from home visits once in 3 months, the volunteers also follow up with patients, who require to get their blood tested, every month over telephone to ensure that their PT INR tests have been done.

SRP Anticoagulation Clinics

During the follow ups, we realised that many patients, especially those with valve replacement surgery, who require monthly blood tests to adjust the dose of their medicine, were not following the protocol correctly. The biggest challenge was the distance they had to travel to get the tests done. These tests were available only in the bigger cities of the state. While some patients had to travel 4 to 6 hours, others had to go beyond the state borders to cities in neighbouring states. For patients who were daily wage labourers, it meant forgoing their daily income.

 To help such patients and to increase the compliance to blood tests and medicines, Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, Odisha came up with the unique concept of anticoagulation clinics in districts where such tests were not available. Since the PT INR test needs to be done once in a month, these clinics function on a particular day of every month.  With the support and guidance of cardiologists from SSSIHMS and alumni of Bhagawan’s institutions, the first such SRP Clinic was started in Bhadrak district on 10th March 2019. One week prior to each camp, a team of volunteers call up all the patients in the nearby districts and inform them about the timing and procedure to be followed.

On the 2nd Sunday of every month, the clinic runs exclusively for valve patients operated in SSSIHMS. Patients from nearby districts of North Odisha come to Sai Mandir in Bhadrak. They are examined by the local doctor, who is an alumnus of SSSIHMS. Their blood test is done with the help of a point of care machine. The doctor then connects with a volunteer cardiologist over teleconference and as per the advice, adjusts the medicine dose based on the test report. All the details of the patient are digitised and the patients are given a printed summary of the consultation. The patient details remain confidential. The clinic ends with a session of counselling for all the patients. All patients and their relatives are served freshly cooked meals as Swami’s Prasadam before departure and are instructed to return the following month. This seva has helped the patients save time and money. Now the patients take their medicines and get their tests done regularly without any anxiety.

Some of the patients we came across in the clinics had wonderful stories to tell us.  Pushpa, a middle aged lady, broke down into tears on the opening day and said, “For me, the problem was not about money, but to get the test report, see a doctor and return to my village all alone by train. On days when I missed the passenger train, I had to take a Express train, which doesn’t stop at my station. As the train crossed my station, I had to jump off the train and walk late in the night alone to my house. I always prayed to Swami to make some arrangements nearby...” How can the compassionate lord bear such pain of His children? So no wonder the SRP Anticoagulation clinics were started soon after. Now for persons like Pushpa the tests are available at their doorstep. 

In 2020, four more such SRP Clinics have come up. The second clinic at Rayagada functions on last Sunday of every month and caters to patients of southern Odisha who earlier used to travel every month to Andhra Pradesh to get the test done. The third clinic at Balangir serves the patients of Western Odisha on the third Sunday of every month. The fourth clinic started at Jaraka in Jajpur district, which serves patients from 3 districts of coastal Odisha. The most recently opened clinic at Berhampur serves the patients of Ganjam and Gajapathi districts, which have a high density of valve replacement patients. Each of these clinics is manned by a dedicated team of doctors and volunteers. The State SRP team at Bhubaneswar monitors the running of these clinics, training of the team and any other help as required.

Dedicated Helpline

 A dedicated SRP Helpline has been started to guide the patients and volunteers. Over the last nearly 3 years, hundreds of patients like Pushpa have benefitted from these SRP Clinics. They now live their lives with more confidence and less fear and with a promise to take care of the gift of life given by Bhagawan. 

The Sai Rehabilitation Programme has given a unique opportunity to the devotees of Odisha to serve Bhagawan through His patients and continue to offer their gratitude to Him.

 Jai Sai Ram