NIMHANS Mental Health Santhe 2.0

International Brain Tumour Awareness Week 2022

29th October to 6th November

BTSG Awareness Foundation India participated in 3rd Annual Symposium of Pakistan Neuro-Oncology Society 2022.

The participation was in a patient centric session. Dr Nitin Garg was the keynote speaker for this session.

BTSG Awareness Foundation India participated in Pakistan Society of Neuro-Oncology Symposium 2021 on Patient Centric Care

BTSG Awareness Foundation India participated in this session. Talks on patient advocacy, involving medical professionals, survivorship and care giver programmes were given. In addition, there was participation from a patient and care givers who expressed the issues faced by them during the course of the illness.

World Brain Tumour Day — 8th June 2021

INTERNATIONAL BRAIN TUMOUR AWARENESS WEEK 2020

Various awareness activities were conducted on the occasion of International Brain Tumour Awareness Week. This week is celebrated in the last week of October every year to highlight the challenges faced by Brain tumour patients and their care givers and to raise awareness about this disease in the society at large.

Below are some highlights of various activities conducted.

Listen to Journey of Mr Sachin Dubey, a Brain Tumour Survivor. He has undergone surgeries for two different brain tumours and now a successfully working in a bank.

Mr Sachin underwent two surgeries — one for a CP angle epidermoid and other for a Colloid Cyst.

Brain Tumours are rare tumours. Patients and caregivers face significant challenges due to the rarity of this illness and lack of appropriate information. As part of Brain Tumour Awareness Week, we present the personal experiences of a Care-Giver of a Brain Tumour Patient.

Mother of a 6 year old child with medulloblastoma

ISNOCON 2019 — April 2019

It all started when…

At the 11th Annual Conference of Indian Society of Neuro-Oncology (ISNOCON 2019), a dedicated Psycho-Social session was held with Patients and their Care-Givers alongwith Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Neurosurgeons, Radiation and Medical Oncologists on same platform. About 50 patients (Brain tumor survivors) and their relatives actively participated and expressed the psychological issues and challenges faced by them.

This event highlighted that there was a need to address these issues more pro-actively and scientifically. Hence, the idea of Brain Tumor Support Group was conceived.

INTERNATIONAL BRAIN TUMOR ALLIANCE (IBTA) 4TH BIENNIAL SUMMIT

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, WASHINGTON, D.C., USA

October 2019

BTSG participated in the 4th Biennial Summit held at Washington, D.C., USA. About 95 participants — brain tumor survivors, care-givers, and CEOs of various societies from 25 countries deliberated and shared their experiences over 3 days. BTSG Awareness Foundation was the only participant and representative from India.

Dr Nitin Garg, on behalf of BTSG Awareness Foundation, made a platform presentation highlighting the challenges faced by patients, clinicians and their care-givers in India. This presentation was widely appreciated by participants. He also chaired a session during this summit.

Photos by “Marleen Van den Neste — www.marleenvandenneste.com

International Psycho-Oncology Society Academy

Chennai, January 2020

BTSG Awareness Foundation participated in the Internationa Psycho-Oncology Society’s Annual Symposium held in Chennai.

Ms Khusboo, Neuro-rehabilitation Psychologist and Counsellor presented on the topic of “Acute Non-Pharmacological Management for Brain Tumor Patients and their Caregivers” and received a lot of appreciation from the national and international delegates in this conference. This paper was based on observational data of our own work over 3 months and involving 60 patients. This was a unique paper and first such presentation on acute psychological care for brain tumor patients. This was also the only paper in this Psycho-Oncology conference on Brain Tumors. The results of this study are very positive. The foundation is in discussion with other hospitals to offer such services to their patients.