Volunteers - the back bone of Tridal :

• Caregiver and non-caregiver volunteers form the backbone of functioning of Tridal activities. Caregivers are the people who care for the Shubharthis at home and non-caregiver volunteers are the one who don’t have any Shubharthis in their family. At Tridal we consider all the volunteers as Shubhankars of our Shubharthis.
• These Shubhankars are people from different fields who volunteer to work with Shubharthis once or twice a week depending on the time available with them.
• Most of our Shubhankars at Tirdal are females are 50+ yrs in age, working part time or are house makers. We have two male Shubhankars who have full time occupation but still spare time to work with Tridal.
  
  

Significance of non - caregiver volunteers :

It has been observed all over the world that the caregivers are emotionally tired looking after their Shubharthis. This emotional fatigue is much higher when the Shubharthi is non-functioning. When the Shubharthis are at the rehabilitation workshop like Tridal for a few hours a day, it really gives them some respite from their 24x7 job of caregiving. This is the main reason why they are reluctant to volunteer. Secondly, the age of the Shubhankars is another issue which puts lot of restrictions on their taking up anything new or committing themselves for any work. Most of the Shubhankars are 60+. With this background the non-caregiver volunteers are a major help for the cause. They are motivated to be of help for the society and are ready to learn new skills. Most of their family responsibilities are taken care of. They are fresh with energy. These volunteers bring in real enthusiasm and zeal to the group.

Selection of volunteers:

• People interested are required to come and observe the Tridal activity for four/five days.
• Then they requested to respond to a detailed form. This form helps us in getting the idea of the interested person's understanding of mental health issues.
• Then in an interaction session with senior volunteers their observations and queries are discussed. All expectations regarding their role as a volunteer are told to them in this interaction.
• They can then start coming as a volunteer.
• Fresh volunteers are supposed to attend the 2 days caregiver's training workshop which is scheduled at every 4 months at IPH.

Monthly caregivers Meeting:

Caregivers meeting for the Shubhankars is held on first Saturday of every month at 4.30pm at Tridal, Saptasopan Parisar, Dharmaveer Nagar, Behind Dyansadhana College, Near Ganesh Udyan. Opposite Grishma Residency, Thane West. Any Shubhankar can attend this meeting. No fees are charged for this meeting. Shubhankars’ of Shubharthis’ under treatment of any other Psychiatrist other than IPH are also welcome for these meetings. Shubhankars can freely discuss their challenges and issues they face while handling the Shubharthi.

Trend Setters:

Trend setters is the support group of high functioning Shubharthis. They all meet at Tridal on Second Saturday of every month at 5pm. High Functioning Shubharthi is the one who is able to focus on career, family life effectively in spite of being under treatment for Schizophrenia and allied disorders.