Standards of TB Care in India related to Patient Support

A total of eight standards related to patient support (Standard 19 to Standard 26) have been mentioned in the standard for TB care in India guidelines. The standards are described below:

Standard 19: Panchayati Raj Institutions

Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and elected representatives have an important role to share the public health responsibility for TB control with the healthcare providers, patients and the community.

Standard 20: Health Education

Every TB symptomatic should be properly counselled by the healthcare provider.

TB patients and their family members should get proper counselling and health education at every contact with the healthcare system.

Standard 21: Death Audit among TB Patients

Death among TB patients should be audited by a competent authority.

Standard 22: Information on TB Prevention and Care Seeking

All individuals, especially women, children, elderly, differently-abled, other vulnerable groups and those at increased risk should receive information related to TB prevention and care seeking.

Standard 23: Free and Quality Services

All patients, especially those in vulnerable population groups, accessing a provider where TB services are available should be offered free or affordable quality assured diagnostic and treatment services which should be provided at locations and times so as to minimise workday or school disruptions and maximise access.

Standard 24: Respect, Confidentiality and Sensitivity

All people seeking or receiving care for TB should be received with dignity and managed with promptness, confidentiality and gender sensitivity.

Standard 25: Care and Support through Social Welfare Programmes

Patient support systems should endeavour to derive synergies between various social welfare support systems to mitigate out-of-pocket expenses such as transport and wage loss incurred by people affected by TB.

Standard 26: Addressing Counselling and Other Needs

Persons affected by TB should be counselled at every opportunity, to address information gaps and to enable informed decision-making. Counselling should address issues such as treatment adherence, adverse drug reactions, prognosis and physical, financial, psycho-social and nutritional needs.

Resources

• Standards for TB care in India, 2014.

Assessment