Meet Preetha Mahesh, a multifaceted social entrepreneur and designer who has been doing exemplary service in the field of palliative care. She hails from a well known Kadathanad family from Kerala, now settled in Chennai. She was born to Padmanabhan and Padmaja. Her two siblings are Gayathri and Shree.
Preetha is married to Mahesh Kumar, an engineer who runs an interior designing company. Their 2 lovely children- Shivaani, a B Tech student and Vishak, a high school student, complete the family.
Armed with an MBA in Business Management, Preetha founded Soul Palliative Care in 2018, an initiative to provide compassionate care for people with serious illnesses. Palliative care is imperative for the alleviation of suffering by patients who face serious health issues and for improvement of their quality of life.
Preetha also manages an old age care centre for pensioners where training is offered in Android smartphone use as well as emergency medical care to empower the elders. Besides this, she runs a home for the visually impaired and focuses on imparting them with life skills so they can achieve financial independence.
Soul Palliative Care has provided palliative treatment and offered solace to more than 500 patients with life- threatening and life-limiting conditions, their families and caregivers till date.
The multidisciplinary team comprises palliative care nurses, doctors, physiotherapists and community volunteers across the districts of Chennai, Chengalpettu, Kanchipuram and Ranipet. (It includes Vandaloor, Urapakkam, Guduvanchery, Thirutheri, Thirukachur, Potheri, Singaperumalkoil, Thirukkazhugukundram and Poonthandalam regions).
Soul Palliative Care also provides home-based palliative care at the residence of patients and runs a 10 bed in-patient hospice facility in Medavakkam. This building was given to them by the Tamil Nadu government for taking care of terminally ill patients.
Their multidisciplinary homecare team, visit the patients and their families to provide them with necessary medical treatment and medicines and also offer financial support for specialized healthcare, physical rehabilitation and assistive devices.
Cots and wheel chairs are provided to all bedridden patients. Food kits are provided on a monthly basis to impoverished families and dependants of patients-eg children, senior citizens etc.
She runs a cloud kitchen in Kannagi Nagar called ‘’Aram Sei’’ where nutritious meals are prepared for the community at affordable prices.
She also heads a Vocational Training centre where young girls are trained in beautician courses, thereby equipping them with the necessary skills for employment.
Preetha’s passion for community service stems from her volunteer work in government hospitals in rural areas of Chennai and Chenglepet districts. It was there that she met her mentors Dr. Suresh IPM and Dr, Rajagopal of Pallium India and gained exposure and experience in palliative care.
World Health Organization defines Palliative care as ‘’an approach that improves the quality of life of patients (adults and children) and their families who face problems associated with a life-threatening illness. It prevents and alleviates suffering by recognizing, assessing and treating pain and other symptoms whether they are physical, psychosocial or spiritual.’’
Preetha’s mission is to reach out to people in pain and to those who suffer from diseases, to provide a good quality of life to the living, to provide dignity in death and basically to treat all people with empathy and compassion. Her goal is to prevent lack of awareness stand in the way of people accessing the care they require.
She envisions a future where anyone who suffers from serious health issues gets necessary care irrespective of their circumstances.
Some of her other activities include recruiting and training community members to manage patients with palliative care needs, liaising with treating hospitals/oncology institutes and medical colleges in the city to increase referrals to homecare and hospice by Soul Palliative Care, conducting workshops for health and allied health personnel, promoting awareness about palliative care needs through street plays and distribution of pamphlets in the local language.
Preetha unwinds by curling up with a book and never gets tired of learning new things. She is basically a very creative person being a designer by profession.
She learned the Bharatanatyam dance form for 16 years and loves performing on stage. She is fond nature and farming and likes to travel and explore new places.
She relishes all vegetarian dishes prepared in authentic Kerala style.
Her favourite outfit is the versatile saree and she prefers all shades of blue.
She is fond of Volleyball and is a state volleyball player.
Preetha likes to watch good family movies and is terrified of watching horror movies. Her favourite actors include Tom Hanks and Superstar Rajinikanth.
Through her diverse initiatives, Preetha exemplifies a deep commitment to social welfare and skill development. She dreams of empowering the community and making the world a better place.
Juliana Sridhar is a lawyer and columnist.
