Alzheimers NEWS

Calcutta Chapter

Alzheimer's And Related Disorders Society of India
Care & Support For Dementia

Registered No.S/98648

About 3.2 million people in India are affected by Alzheimer's and other forms of Dementia. By 2016 there will be 113 million people over 60 and above. Of which 10% of them over 65 and almost half of them over 85 will have the disease.

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100 years of Alzheimer's 2006

National Award for Best Dementia Carer (Nilanjana Maulik)

Opening of ARDSI Calcutta Support Group in Burdawan Town on World Alzheimer Day PROGRAMS:

Quality Dementia Training Session participants

ARDSI Calcutta imparts carers training for professionals to look after dementia people several times a year. The

Training is aimed at provision of support to persons suffering from dementia & their families in a variety of settings including family houses and community day care centers.

There is a price to pay in not investing in training, because the contribution that training makes to build a skilled and valued workforce is tremendous. The Quality Dementia Care training program evolved out of a carer survey which proved that throughout the illness, the caregiver has to meet one challenge after another in caring for his loved one. They spend in an average of 70 to as much as 100 hours a week looking after their loved ones- which is equivalent to 2 or more full-time jobs. Research has also shown that caregivers themselves often are at increased risk for depression and illness, especially if they do not receive adequate support. Taking care of a dementia person at home is a difficult task and can become overwhelming at times. Each day brings new challenges as the caregiver copes with changing levels of ability and new patterns of behavior.

In this situation, what the family needs is practical information, guidance and useful suggestions to make the everyday things of life easier: How can I get Mother to take a bath? What do I do when Father won't sit down and eat? What do I do when my husband becomes agitated and upset? These are the things that, when faced everyday, lead to caregiver burnout. Caregiver burnout is what leads to the need of a trained staff in dementia caregiving.

The need for a trained staff has been constantly on the rise over the past few years. With changing Indian urban family set-up, caring for the elderly with dementia has become a challenge. A common problem arises when children live in another city or overseas and the elderly spouse is not healthy enough to care for their partner. In this case, the trained staff will fulfill the demand and assist the family caregiver. Further, the increasing number of dementia victims will raise the demand of trained staff. The training program also offers a guaranteed livelihood to many.

As a supportive measure the training program was started by the ARDSI Calcutta chapter in 2003 in association with the Saroj Nalini Memorial Association. The program has successfully placed participants in the community. The participants are non medical staff who are also trained to do vital checks, administer medicine, attend to personal care.

AWARENESS PROGRAMS

CARER SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS

UPDATES:

ARDSI, Calcutta also has been chosen as one of the 3 NGO’s in India by the International Federation of Aging to work on the BUILDING CAPACITY IN HEALTH CARE PROJECT”.

We are tied up with

Southern Cross Care, a Western Australian NGO in Perth, Australia.

SCC is one of the leading providers of aged care services in that State and was established in 1966. SCC provides a wide range of services including: Residential care services, Community care services to assist people to remain in their own homes and communities, Day Centres, Retirement accommodation & Contract management and consultancy services.

SCC has also developed a reputation as one of Australia’s leading providers of dementia care with an innovative range of programs in both residential, community and day care settings.

Hence the Partnership organizations( ARDSI Calcutta & SCC Perth have committed to the following project:

“Quality Dementia Care: A Western Australia – West Bengal Collaboration”

The purpose of the overall partnership is to enhance the quality of life of people with dementia and their families in West Bengal with the pilot phase being the development and implementation of a 10 year strategic plan and system of corporate governance for ARDSI. During the 2 year pilot phase two organisations will also collaborate on:

the delivery of dementia training for staff and primary caregivers

the development of home based care services and

the planning for the construction of a Day Centre

In August, 2005 ARDSI secretary/ resource person for the project visited Perth, as part of the project plan and had several meetings with SCC committee and Board of Directors to formally sketch the activities.

Exchange visit with SCC in Perth

In November, 2005 a Dementia Care Consultant, Mr. Peter Mchale from SCC visited Calcutta to conduct 2 workshops for professional carers and family carers.

Mr. Peter Mchale with a former Carer & ARDSI secretary

This May ’06 as part of IFA 8^th Global conference a paper presentation regarding the ongoing activities of the chapter and future project was made by our secretary in Denmark.

Member participants of IFA conference

A visit of community care personnel Ms. Sonya Smart from SCC to improve ARDSI Calcutta Home care services was conducted in September this year.

MS. Sonya Smart in discussion of Home Care needs with Ms. Nilanjana Maulik & Mrs. Shefali Chaudhuri

THE DEMENTIA INDIA REPORT 2010 : First in Developing country

THE DEMENTIA INDIA REPORT 2010 : Prevalence, impact, costs and services for dementia - AN EYE OPENER

• In 2010, there are 3.7 million Indians with dementia and the total societal costs is about 14,700 crore
• While the numbers are expected to double by 2030, costs would increase three times
• Families are the main carers and they need support

Meeting the challenge of dementia in India

It is estimated that over 3.7 million people are affected by dementia in our country. This is expected to double by 2030. It is estimated that the cost of taking care of a person with dementia is about 43,000 annually; much of which is met by the families. The financial burden will only increase in the coming years. The challenge posed by dementia as a health and social issue is of a scale we can no longer ignore. Despite the magnitude, there is gross ignorance, neglect and scarce services for people with dementia and their families. We know that dementia is not part of aging and is caused by a variety of diseases. We now have a range of options to treat the symptoms of dementia and offer practical help to those affected.

Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI) the national voluntary organization dedicated to the care, support and research of dementia has been in the forefront to improve the situation since 1992. ARDSI is committed to developing a society which is dementia friendly and literate. This could only happen if we have the political commitment at all levels to provide a range of solutions that deliver a life with dignity and honour for people with dementia.

The ‘Dementia India Report’ is an ambitious visionary document calling for government and policy makers to recognize dementia as a health and social welfare priority by developing a National Dementia Strategy. The report has been put together after a series of consultations across the country from January 2009 to March 2010. The editors have used these consultations and the data available from the findings of the 10/66 Dementia Research Group worldwide, the ADI’s World Alzheimer Report 2009and from other research in India.

This is a significant step forward in dementia care movement in our country. Many countries like Australia, England, France, Norway, Netherlands, and South Korea have already recognised the problem and have devised national dementia strategies and have made dementia a national health priority. It is coincidental the Ministry of Health is about to launch the National Health care programme for the elderly. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has undertaken the revision of the national policy for older persons. This could be used as an advantage for promoting better dementia care in the country. It is our fervent hope that this report will prompt the government for setting up memory clinics and other care services at the district levels and a National Alzheimer’s Centre at the capital. We sincerely hope that the government will consider the recommendations seriously and include dementia care in the primary healthcare system.

Recommendations:
1 Make dementia a national priority
2 Increase funding for dementia research
3 Increase awareness about dementia
4 Improve dementia identification and care skills
5 Develop community support
6 Guarantee carer support packages
7 Develop comprehensive dementia care models
8 Develop new National Policies and Legislation for PwD

We are facing a public health and social care emergency and immediate action is needed!

Alzheimer's Disease International’s :Global Alzheimer's Disease Charter Six principles to make Alzheimer's disease and other dementias a global priority:

1. Promote awareness and understanding of the disease.
2. Respect the human rights of people with the disease.
3. Recognize the key role of families and carers.
4. Provide access to health and social care.
5. Stress the importance of optimal treatment after diagnosis.
6. Take action to prevent the disease, through improvements in public health.

I would like to congratulate the editorial and scientific team for producing this brilliant report, which is the first of its kind from a developing country. We hope that this will stimulate the government, policy makers, health care professionals, family members and other associations to action and collaboration.

CONSULTATIVE GROUP
The authors would like to thank the participants who took part in the meetings across the country for their inputs and suggestions: Dr.Suvarna Alladi, Dr. Mathew Abraham, Mrs. Rukshana Ansari, Dr. Shelley P Bhaskara, Dr.Shirin Barodawala, Dr. K Chandrasekhar, Dr.Vijay Chandra, Dr. Mathew Cherian, Dr. V P Gopinathen (Rtd.), Dr. S D Gokhale, Dr. S A Hafiz,Prof. Ejaz Hussain,Dr. K V John,Dr. Mathew Kanamala,Mr. S N Kuckereja,Dr. Ninan Kurien,Dr. VinodKumar,Dr.P S Mathuranath,Dr. Radha Murthy,Mrs.Nilanjana Maulik,Mr. Sailesh Mishra,Mr. Deepak Naik,Sqn. Ldr. KAR Nair (Rtd.),Dr. Mini Nair,Mrs. Shobha R Nair ,Mrs. Nirmala Narula,Dr. Dilip Panikar,Dr. Subhangi Parkar,Ms. Jasmin Pawri,Dr.Charles Pinto,Mr. T.K. Radhamonie,Mrs. Indirani Rajadurai,Dr. K S Rajani,Prof. S Siva Raju,Prof. Prasun Roy,Mr. M M Sabharwal,Mr. Ravi Samuel,Dr. N N Sarangi,Dr. R Sathianathan,Dr. K Selvaraj,Dr. Bela Shah,Mrs. Urvashi Shah, Dr. Yogesh Shah,Dr. S Shaji,Dr. Mala Kapur Shankardass,Mr. Brahmanand Singh,Dr. Mathew S Thomas,Dr. Manjari Tripathi,Mrs. Seita Vaidialingam,Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Viswanathan,Dr. N.H. Wadia

Special thanks to:
Dr Neela Patel,Dr A.B. Dey and Dr E S Krishnamurthy;Mr Michael Splaine, Director, State Affairs, Alzheimer's Association, US;Ms Florence Lustman, Inspector general des Finances Chargée du plan Alzheimer,France; Mr Andrew ketteringham, Director External Affairs, Alzheimer’s Society, UK ; Mr Marc Wortmann, Executive Director,Alzheimer’s Disease International; Ms Daisy Acosta, Chairman, Alzheimer’s Disease International;<
The report and related initiative was possible because of the generous funding support from Dr Raghunandan Gaind.<

ARDSI acknowledges the financial assistance and support of:
• NISD, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India
• World Health Organisation
• Alzheimer’s Disease International
• HelpAge India
• Eisai India Ltd

With a new case of dementia in the world every seven seconds , THERE IS NO TIME TO LOSE.

Dr. K. Jacob Roy
National Chairman.
Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI)
Website: http://www.ardsi.org/index.html

Read complete Dementia India Report 2010:http://www.ardsi.org/assets/dementia.pdf

Read Summary - Dementia India Report 2010 :http://www.ardsi.org/assets/report_summary.pdf