IAPC puts last moments of life in the spotlight, with #LastWords told to nurses

The Indian Institute of Palliative Care (IAPC) has rolled out an initiative themed #LastWords.

 

Conceptualised by Medulla Communications, the campaign, which includes a film based on interviews with 200 nurses, seeks to raise awareness on palliative care.

 

The film (above) was unveiled at the Indian Association of Palliative Care's  annual conference (IAPCON) and rolled out on 23 February 2016 on social media.

 

It features real nurses recounting the last words said to them at hospitals. Most of them were meant for family members, but they were not around at the time. 

 

Dr Priyadarshini Kulkarni, secretary, IAPC, said, “For patients with serious life-limiting illness, palliative care focuses on giving them every possible comfort during their last days – including letting them spend time with loved ones, reducing the pain or suffering from the disease, preparing them and family members for the inevitable, or even just getting them their favourite medu wada.”

 

Dr Nagesh Simha, president, IAPC, said, “The Indian Association of Palliative Care is a group of healthcare professionals that’s pledged to offer access to palliative care to every Indian. Now we believe with this campaign that anyone who’s had a family member die with needless pain, or surrounded by machines, will probably realise the need for palliative care and pledge to opt for it.”

 

Praful Akali, founder and director, Medulla Communications, said, “This is not just a film or a communication campaign, it is a project. It started with interviewing 200 nurses and listening to hundreds of stories of last words. The film was then created out of just eight of those stories. The tweets, the posts, the website, the online pledges all became a part of it. And we’ve been able to use all of it to start a conversation on the most difficult topic ever – end-of-life and end-of-life care.”

 

Amit Akali, chief creative officer, Medulla Communications, added, “This film defines the way we look at advertising. The reactions have been overwhelming – I’ve been getting calls from agency folks all day today telling me that the film is real, authentic and just doesn’t feel like advertising. Which is exactly what we were hoping for.”

 

The duo added, ”This is a cause that’s personal to us: Our mother had passed away from cancer about 12 years back and even after we discovered she was terminal, she suffered without palliative care or even simple pain relief for a month before we learnt about palliative care. She also passed away in an ICU – against her wishes – with only some of her family around her. All of these we later realised were basic tenets of palliative care. In fact the recipe incident in the video, was inspired by her.” 

 

Credits

 

Client: The Indian Institute of Palliative Care

Advertising agency: Medulla Communications

Founder-director: Praful Akali

Chief creative officer: Amit Akali

Production house: A NineTeen Films

Director (film): Rahul Sengupta