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:
l
the
delivery of dementia training for staff and primary caregivers
l
the
development of home based care services and
lthe
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 8th 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
