The HEALTH : January 2019 | Page 27

january, 2019 | The Health Plus The team: norman hussaini, Norzira Syarini Mohammed Pauzi, Nellie ooi, Putra Mokhter, Nurul Fadhlin Che Ismail, chan shing cheng, CHONG Suke Han, Muhammad Fitri Hakim and Sahana. 03 p03 Dr Azmee (right) showing the IJN website where the support group is based in to Chief Clinical Officer of IJN Datuk Dr Aizai Azan Abdul Rahim (center) and Consultan Cardiologist Dr Teoh Chee Kiang (left). Heart failure support group in session Sharing stories... The event saw heart failure patients sharing their experience undergoing heart transplant to the public. T he efforts by IJN to personalise heart failure patients’ care has taken a step up with their introduction of heart failure support group. The group aims to help patients living with heart patients to cope with their condition when they are not at the hospital with the doctor. Dato Dr Azmee leads the initiative to help the patients find moral support when one might not come. “When you come to the hospital, you have doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, and dieticians that can help by giving advice and support. But after that, when patients go home, there’s nobody with that level of information to support them. They may feel lost and helpless, which may lead to depression,” Dr Azmee says. “That’s why we wanted to create this support group. We want to be able to help patients who are at home and when they feel like they can’t do very much because of their condition,” he adds. More than just advice We wanted to create this support group. We want to be able to help patients who are at home and when they feel like they can’t do very much because of their condition.” – Dato Dr Azmee Yet the aim for the support group is not just for doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, and dieticians to send advice to patients at home. “With enough experts and patients involved, we want to also have a group of successful patients giving support to newer patients. Since medication and proce- dures cost a lot, with enough donations and sponsors, we would also like to help patients who would be facing financial issues as well,” Dr Azmee says. As for now, the support group is a simple networking method (via phone calls, messaging, and online chat) between experts at IJN and their patients at home suffering from heart conditions. Given the time, it can be a more viable method for heart failure patients to receive support they sorely need. — The Health Plus