Dean Foundation
The Dean Foundation is a non-profit medical foundation that provides free hospice and palliative care to individuals with irreversible illnesses irrespective of age, race, religion, or socioeconomic status. It is based in Chennai, India and services the state of Tamil Nadu. It has been providing care and managing the distressing symptoms of terminally ill patients and their families since 1998 through an outpatient clinic, home care visits, training for caregivers, and the provision of free medications and medical supplies. During its years of operation, the Dean Foundation has cared for over fifteen hundred patients, many of whom have nowhere else to turn. The name of the foundation is an acronym for its purpose: to Dignify and Empower the Ailing and Needy.
The World Health Organization has determined that the inadequate management of pain due to cancer is a serious health problem in the world. This pain is most prevalent and severe in the late stages of the illness, near the end of life, when hospice and palliative care are being provided. The WHO also maintains that although there are many [...] and non-[...] pain treatments, opioid analgesics such as morphine are absolutely necessary for the management of pain due to cancer.
The service the Dean Foundation provides is unique as, in India, morphine availability is restricted and fear still surrounds the use of opioids. In conjunction with its hospice and palliative care, the Dean Foundation works to identify and remove regulatory barriers so that those with chronic disease can have access to pain relief.