What we do

Care, education, and work on the ground

Four ways this practice operates - from a private consultation in Winnipeg to a screening table in a Tarn Taran village.

Dr. Sandhu sitting with a colleague during a consultation visit in Punjab
01

Addiction consultation

A confidential conversation about what is actually happening - substance use, patterns, physical health, what has already been tried, and what realistically comes next. For the person using, or for a family member who needs to understand what they are dealing with.

  • Assessment of alcohol, opioid, heroin, cocaine and synthetic drug use
  • Plain-language explanation of treatment options, detox and rehabilitation
  • Guidance on co-occurring mental health concerns
  • Referral and navigation - who to contact, and in what order
  • Conducted in Punjabi or English
Request a consultation
02

Family support & education

Families are usually the first to notice and the last to get help. This is for the parents, spouses and siblings who have been managing a crisis for years without a single person explaining what is going on.

  • What addiction is medically - and why willpower is the wrong frame
  • How to raise it with someone who is not ready to hear it
  • Setting limits without cutting someone off
  • Recognising overdose risk, relapse and warning signs
  • Looking after your own health while you do this
Talk about your situation
A family in conversation during a support session
The mobile hospital unit and free screening table at a village medical camp in Tarn Taran
03

Medical camps & rural health

Free camps run each year in Punjab with local hospital partners such as Guru Nanak Super Specialty Hospital, plus school visits, awareness programming and connectivity projects for villages and schools.

  • Blood pressure and blood sugar screening
  • Consultation and dispensing of medication on site
  • Drug and alcohol awareness sessions for villages and schools
  • Referral into local treatment and rehabilitation services
  • WiFi and connectivity infrastructure for schools and villages
Support or join a camp
04

Speaking, lectures & media

Colleges in Amritsar and Chandigarh, community organisations in Brampton, public lectures in Winnipeg, and Punjabi-language radio. If your audience needs to hear about addiction from a physician who speaks their language, this is that.

  • Public lectures on addiction and mental health - and how they overlap
  • Youth forums, college sessions and NSS student programmes
  • Training for community organisations and health workers
  • Punjabi-language radio and media appearances
  • Delivered in Punjabi or English, in person or online
Invite Dr. Sandhu to speak
A hall of students at Government College for Girls, Chandigarh, during a lecture on alcoholism
Before you get in touch

Questions people actually ask

Yes. Nothing you share is discussed with anyone - not relatives, not community members, not your gurdwara, not your employer. This is the single most common worry raised, and it is also the main reason people wait years before reaching out. You do not need to give a full name in a first email.

Yes - consultations, lectures and media are all offered in Punjabi as well as English. If it is easier for a parent or grandparent to speak Punjabi, that is how the conversation happens. Nothing important should be lost to translation.

Absolutely, and most first contacts come from a family member rather than the person using. You do not need their permission to seek information and support for yourself. In many cases getting the family steady first is what eventually makes treatment possible.

That is normal, not a dead end. Ambivalence is part of the condition rather than a sign the person does not care. There is a great deal a family can do in the meantime - reducing overdose risk, changing how conversations are framed, keeping a relationship intact so that the door is still open when readiness comes.

Yes. Previous audiences include Khalsa College Amritsar, Government College for Girls Chandigarh, Punjabi Community Health Services in Brampton, the Manitoba Legislative Grounds, and Punjabi-language radio in Winnipeg. Sessions can be tailored to students, parents, health workers or a general community audience.

No. If someone is unresponsive, not breathing, in severe withdrawal, or at immediate risk of harming themselves, call emergency services first - 911 in Canada and the USA, 112 in India. Consultation and education work alongside emergency and hospital care, never instead of it.