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Organisation: Niram RIMH Palliative Care Centre
Location: Tumkur, Karnataka
Employment Type: Full-time
Reporting To: Clinical Lead

About Niram

Niram RIMH Palliative Care Centre is a dedicated palliative care centre at the Rural India Mission Hospital campus on Sira Road, Tumakuru. With the philosophy Niram provides multidisciplinary, compassionate care to patients and families through inpatient, outpatient and home-based services, along with pharmacy, laboratory, family support and bereavement support. Niram is also working to strengthen access to palliative care across Tumakuru by building awareness, developing referral networks and connecting patients and families to appropriate care. The centre works closely with healthcare professionals, community organisations, government stakeholders and local communities to create a stronger ecosystem for palliative care.

About the Role

The Counsellor will provide psychosocial assessment, counselling and emotional support to patients and their caregivers across inpatient, outpatient and home-care settings. The role will also contribute to bereavement support, staff wellbeing, training and the development of appropriate psychosocial care practices at Niram.

The Counsellor will work closely with doctors, nurses, social workers and other members of the interdisciplinary team (IDT) to ensure that psychosocial needs are identified early and appropriately addressed as part of holistic palliative care.

1. Patient & Caregiver Care

A. Inpatient Care

• Participate in interdisciplinary team (IDT) rounds and contribute psychosocial perspectives to patient care planning.
• Meet each inpatient regularly and conduct a psychosocial assessment based on the patient’s and family’s needs.
• Identify patients and caregivers requiring individual counselling or more intensive psychosocial intervention.
• Schedule and conduct individual counselling sessions with patients and caregivers as required.
• Support patients and families in coping with diagnosis and prognosis, fear and anxiety, loss of function and independence, end-of-life concerns, family and relationship issues, anticipatory grief and loss, and communication or decision-making challenges.
• Identify psychosocial concerns requiring intervention from other members of the IDT and facilitate appropriate referrals.
• Participate in family meetings where psychosocial input would be beneficial. Contribute to discharge planning where psychosocial considerations may affect continuity of care.

B. Outpatient Care

• Conduct an initial psychosocial assessment of patients and caregivers referred through the OPD.
• Provide counselling and psychosocial support during review visits based on identified needs.
• Assess patients and caregivers referred from the home-care team who require a more detailed or confidential psychosocial assessment at the centre.
• Develop appropriate follow-up plans and coordinate with the clinical team where ongoing psychosocial intervention is required.

C. Home Care

• Accompany the home-care team on all appropriate initial visits to establish rapport with the patient and family, understand the family and caregiving context, identify psychosocial and emotional needs, and assess the need for future counselling or psychosocial intervention.
• Make subsequent home visits independently or with the home-care team based on the patient’s and family’s needs.
• Participate in bereavement visits with the home-care team where appropriate.

2. Bereavement Support

• Identify individuals who may require continued counselling or additional support following bereavement.
• Maintain appropriate follow-up and documentation of bereavement support.

3. Staff Wellbeing & Self-Care

A. Individual Staff Support

• Conduct a confidential one-to-one psychosocial wellbeing check-in with each staff member at least once a month.
• Provide individual counselling and support to staff members experiencing work-related stress, emotional difficulties, grief or challenges associated with working in palliative care.
• Conduct additional sessions when required based on individual needs or significant workplace events.

B. Staff Self-Care

• Conduct structured self-care and wellbeing sessions for staff at least once a month.
• Organise additional staff support sessions following particularly difficult cases, deaths or other situations that may have a significant emotional impact on the team.
• Contribute to creating a culture in which staff wellbeing is recognised as an integral part of quality palliative care.

4. Teaching & Capacity Building

• Conduct regular teaching sessions on the psychosocial aspects of palliative care for doctors, nurses and other clinical staff.
• Develop and deliver training on communication with patients and families, responding to emotions, grief and bereavement, psychological distress in serious illness, caregiver stress and burden, end-of-life conversations, and staff self-care and resilience.
• Prepare appropriate teaching materials, case studies, tools and resources for staff. Participate in orientation and induction programmes for new clinical staff.
• Contribute to building the psychosocial-care competencies of the wider Niram team.

5. Assessment, Documentation & SOPs

• Develop and maintain appropriate psychosocial assessment formats and documentation tools for inpatient, outpatient and home-care settings.
• Document all psychosocial assessments, counselling interventions, follow-up plans and referrals accurately and in a timely manner.
• Ensure documentation is integrated appropriately into the patient’s clinical record.

6. Interdisciplinary Team Responsibilities

• Work as an active member of the interdisciplinary team rather than as a standalone counselling function.
• Share relevant psychosocial observations with the clinical team to support holistic care, while maintaining appropriate confidentiality.
• Participate in case discussions and contribute to care planning.

Key Areas of Accountability

• Quality of psychosocial care provided to patients and caregivers. Integration of psychosocial care into Niram’s interdisciplinary model.
• Timely identification and management/referral of psychosocial distress. Quality of bereavement support provided to families.
• Staff wellbeing and self-care programmes.
• Psychosocial training and capacity building of the clinical team.
• Quality and completeness of clinical documentation.
• Development and implementation of relevant SOPs and tools.

Qualifications & Experience

Essential

• Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology, Psychology, Psychiatry Social Work or a closely related field.
• Relevant experience in 3+years in counselling, psychosocial care, mental health, palliative care, oncology, hospice or a related setting. Strong counselling and communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary team.
• Knowledge of Kannada and English; knowledge of other local languages would be an advantage.

Desirable

• Experience in palliative care, oncology, hospice or end-of-life care.
• Training or experience in grief and bereavement counselling.
• Experience working with caregivers and families facing serious illness.
• Experience in staff wellbeing, training or facilitation.

Reporting

The Counsellor will report to the designated clinical lead at Niram and work closely with all members of the interdisciplinary care team.

Please share a CV and covering letter to: [email protected]

RIMH Palliative Care Centre, Rural India Mission Hospital Campus, Tumkur, Karnataka 572106 +91 8164061459 [email protected] www.nirampalliativecare.org