Integration of Telemedicine for Home-Based End-of-Life Care in Advanced Cancer Patients during Nationwide Lockdown: A Case Series

Dignified death is a basic human right that has been widely overlooked in countries like India. During nationwide lockdown, it is extremely challenging to provide quality end-of-life care (EOLC) to all patients with a poor system for dignified death. Telemedicine, whose feasibility for community-based EOLC in rural settings has already been established, was a useful tool for us to overcome these barriers. Adding a widely used smartphone-based application for video calls along with voice calls and text messages made the process more dynamic and convenient. Here, we share our experience with three patients with advanced malignancy in providing EOLC during COVID-19 lockdown. A well-planned study for the utility of this service for a larger cancer patient population from different sociocultural and demographic backgrounds is warranted in the future.