Chitra Venkateswaran, MD

Founder / Clinical Director, MEHAC Foundation
Kerala, India

Consultant in Psycho Oncology, Department of Oncology and Palliative Care, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, Kerala, India

E-mail: chitven@gmail.com
Skype: chitravenkatesh

Dr. Chitra Venkateswaran is faculty at the Department of Oncology and Palliative Care of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi where the focus is on referrals from other physicians, nurses and social workers addressing the psychological and social issues of patients and families. She also devotes her time to the palliative care issues, and supervising junior physicians on symptom management. She is also the founder/clinical director of Mehac Foundation, a not for profit based on a palliative care model. There they strive to deliver exceptional care to improve the quality of life of people in the community, focusing on psychological issues. The goal is to improve the psychosocial component in any person with a special interest to facilitate integration of psychological issues in palliative care.

Download and Read Chitra’s Personal Story (225 KB)

Other Appointments

Professor in Psychiatry, Consultant Psycho Oncologist, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi
National Faculty in Palliative Care in India, Indian Association of Palliative Care
Faculty, Cairdeas, International Palliative Care Trust, Scotland, UK

Key Accomplishments

Palliative Care Psychiatrist, India
Initiated Psycho Oncology clinics in Pain and Palliative Care Society, Calicut, 2003
Initiated Psycho Oncology clinics in Amrita, Institute of Medical Sciences, 2008
UICC International Fellow, Leeds University (Clinical Research), St James Hospital , Leeds, UK July 2006- June 2008
Contributor for the development of Palliative Tool kit by Help the Hospices, UK

Education / Honors

Graduate, International Palliative Care Leadership Development Initiative, The Institute for Palliative Medicine at San Diego Hospice, San Diego, CA, and OhioHealth, Columbus, Ohio, USA, 2012-2014
MD (Psychiatry), Government Medical College , Calicut, Kerala 1999
MBBS, Government medical College, Trivandrum, Kerala 1989-1990

Key Publications
Journal articles

Thekkumpurath P, Venkateswaran C, Kumar M, Newsham A, Bennett MI( 2009). Screening for psychological distress in palliative care: performance of touch screen questionnaires compared with semi structured psychiatric interview. J Pain Symptom Manage. Oct;38(4):597-605
Thekkumpurath P, Venkateswaran C, Kumar M, Bennett MI( 2008). Screening for psychological distress in palliative care: a systematic review. J Pain Symptom Manage. Nov;36(5):520-8
Chaturvedi S.K, Venkateswaran C(2008). New Research in Psycho-Oncology. Current Opinion in Psychiatry; 21: 206-210.
Venkateswaran C, Kumar TM, Thekkumpurath P, Bennett M (2008). Making sense of end–of–life distress. European Journal Of Palliative Care; 15(1): 17-21
Venkateswaran C, Kumar T Manoj (2006). Psycho-oncology in India: Emerging trends from Kerala. Indian Journal of Palliative Care; 12 (1): 34-8.
Bollini P, Venkateswaran C, Suresh Kumar K (2004). Palliative care in Kerala, India: a model for resource-poor settings. Onkologie Apr; 27(2):138-42.
Rajagopal MR, Venkateswaran C (2003). Palliative care in India: successes and limitations. J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother;17(3-4):121-8.

Books

Kumar T M, Venkateswaran C, Thekkumpurath P (2008). Psychological interventions in cancer pain management. In Textbook of Clinical Pain Management: Cancer Pain Ed: Bennett M & Yuan C. Hodder Arnold, UK
Bollini P, Venkateswaran C, Suresh Kumar K,(2001). Developing Palliative Care in Kerala’ in a book on’ Palliative care in Developing Countries. Edited by Professor Tannerberger

Key Presentations

Venkateswaran C. “Palliative Care Models for Mental Illness – A Challenge”. 13th World Congress of The European Association for Palliative Care. Prague, Czech Republic, May 30 – June 2, 2013.
Venkateswaran C, Thekkumpurath P, Kumar TM, Bennett M. Identifying end of life distress – first step in psychosocial care pathway. 9th World Congress in Psycho oncology, London, Poster, September 2008
Thekkumpurath P, Venkateswaran C, Kumar TM, Bennett M. Detecting psychological distress in palliative care. 9th World Congress in Psycho oncology, London, 16-20, Poster, September, 2008
Venkateswaran C, Thekkumpurath P, Kumar TM, Bennett M. Distress at the End of Life- Making sense from the Psychiatric point of view. 10th Congress of the European Association of Palliative Care. Budapest, Poster, June, 2007
Thekkumpurath P, Venkateswaran C, Kumar TM, Bennett M. Detecting Psychological Distress in Palliative Care. 10th Congress, European Association of Palliative Care. Budapest, Poster, June, 2007
Mason S, Venkateswaran C, Kumar TM, Ellershaw JE. Learner Centered Communication skills training for Undergraduate Medical Students: Cross Cultural Comparisons. 10th Congress of the European Association of Palliative Care, Budapest, Poster, June, 2007
Kumar TM, Thekkumpurath P, Mitchell A, Venkateswaran C. Psycho social aspects of Palliative Care: From Screening to Care Pathways. 9th World Congress in Psycho Oncology, London, September 2007
Depression in Cancer’ at the International Conference in Palliative Care by Indian Association of Palliative Care , Chennai In February 2006
Thekkumpurath P, Narayanan D, Venkateswaran C, Ramakrishnan J, Kumar TM. Screening for psychological distress in palliative care: Preliminary results of a validation study in Kerala, India. 8th World Congress of Psycho oncology, Venice, Poster, October, 2006
Venkateswaran C. “New Directions in Psycho oncology”. 8th World Congress in Psych Oncology Venice, October, 2006
Kumar T M, Venkateswaran C, Bostock N, Thekkumpurath P, Bennett M. Screening for psychosocial distress- Cross cultural issues. 8th World Congress of Psycho oncology, Venice, Poster, October, 2006
“Psycho oncology- The present scene in India” at the International Conference of Palliative Care by Indian Association of Palliative Care in Guwahati , February 2005
Venkateswaran C, Geetha M, Meenakumari V, Kumar T M. Communication skills training-an innovative model for the developing world. 7th World Psycho oncology Congress, Copenhagen, Poster, August, 2004
‘Developing “Psycho oncology”‘ in Calicut at the International Workshop on Community Participation at Manjeri, Kerala, India ,November, 2004