Review of Community-based Health Care Movement and Palliative Care in Kerala

Palliative care is comparatively a new concept in Indian scenario. The changes in the family structure, nuclear family set ups, industrialization, changing epidemiology and life expectancy made the care of patients a difficult task, both in the grounds of materialistic and non-materialistic aspects. In this context a policy that make economic sustainability, participation of different forms of government and community deserves a high place. The present paper analyzes the palliative care policy of Kerala in the context of need and relevance of the population it addressed, the ongoing community palliative movement and the strategic approaches in the policy. The paper evaluates the significant contributions of the policy in relation with the decentralization of public health delivery through the active participation of the local self-governments and how it has enhanced the community based public health initiatives. Secondary data's are made use for the study.