The word Panha means shelter or protection in Hindi as well as a number of Indian languages. Panha Life Care is an endeavour to provide palliative care to patients and their loved ones when dealing with advanced cancer and similar life limiting illnesses. The name also signifies our intent to support patients and their loved ones in the comfort of their own home. As the disease progresses, patients are often in significant pain and may have to deal with other symptoms such as shortness of breath, persistent cough and confusion. Besides the illness, families must also cope with many other social and economic issues at the same time. Our approach is to provide multidisciplinary care to patients. The team includes doctors, nurses and counsellors. The care is provided at your home or virtually via your cell phone or computer.
India has a large population of people who require palliative care due to the high prevalence of diseases in advanced stages such as cancer, heart failure, lung fibrosis, COPD, degenerative brain disease and HIV/AIDS. However, access to palliative care services is limited and there is a large unmet need for these services. This project is a collaboration between Dr. Mohan Menon- a medical oncologist and palliative care physician practicing in Mumbai and JM Baxi a 106 year old business conglomerate involved in marine services, ports and logistics and technology. It is supported through a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) venture by the JM Baxi group.
To provide Compassionate individualized care to each patient leveraging appropriate technology.
Dr. Mohan Menon is an American Board Certified Medical Oncologist and Palliative Care specialist practicing in the city of Mumbai. He is attached to Breach Candy, HN Reliance and Lilavati Hospitals. Prior to returning to India, he was a practicing medical oncologist and palliative care specialist at Hartford, CT, USA for 17 years. He was one of the first doctors in the USA who was certified in both palliative care and medical oncology.(drmohanmenon.com)
Dr. Kalpesh R. Jain is a Palliative care consultant at Panha Life Care. He is a well known Palliative care specialist and has also been a family physician in South Mumbai for thirty years. Prior to joining Panha Lifecare, he worked as a senior medical officer and manager clinical services at Palcare Palliative Homecare services for 6 years.
He completed his Medical degree- MBBS from Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Karad and has completed certification courses in palliative care from Tata Memorial Hospital and a National Fellowship in Palliative Care from the renowned Institute of Palliative Medicine, Kozhikode, Kerala.
He is well liked by his patients and colleagues and believes in providing compassionate care to patients in the comfort of their own home.
He is conversant in several languages- English, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati
His hobbies include traveling, listening to music, pilgrimage tours and sports.
Dr. Sachin Gunde is a Palliative Care Consultant at Panha Life care. He completed his MD in Palliative Medicine from the prestigious Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai.
During his residency in Palliative care, he excelled in managing palliative care issues for patients with cancer as well as non-cancer diagnoses in a variety of scenarios including hospital based, home based care and through tele-consultations. Prior to the same, he completed his MBBS degree from Terna Medical College, under MUHS, He is well regarded by his peers, colleagues and teachers. After completing his MBBS degree, he worked at the Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre- a leading tertiary care hospital in Bandra, Mumbai as a resident physician in Medical Oncology. During this period, he dealt with several complex diseases including a variety of cancers.
He also completed an M. Sc. (P-1), B. Sc.in Life Sciences from University of Mumbai.
He is extremely interested in basic sciences and translational research for better patient care and quality of life.
He is passionate about improving the quality of life of patients with serious illnesses and care of their families at the same time.
His hobbies include playing cricket, listening to music, maintaining aquariums, and gardening.