Kolkata gets dementia care centre after Cochin, Mumbai

Kolkata, Jul 28 (UNI) For the first time in eastern India, a specialised day-care centre has been opened here for dementia patients who live with someone working outside and cannot be safely left at home.

Stating that it was the first-of-its-kind in the eastern region, Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI) Calcutta Day Care Centre Director Nilanjana Maulik, after its inauguration yesterday, said such initiative was the third in India, after Cochin and Mumbai.

She said such service for the dementia patients would be free of cost, adding that three to four care-givers, having the Dementia Training Programme certificate, would be in charge of every batch of eight patients. The day-care unit would house the patients between 1000 to 1600 hrs in the weekdays, apart from providing necessary care.

Dementia is a condition caused by different diseases of the brain, which affects a person's ability to remember, speak, think and make decisions. Apart from being degenerative and severly debilitating, it affects more than memory and interferes with a person's daily activities.

''Dementia, of which Alzheimer's Disease is a common form, is generally found in the age group between 65 to 80 years. A study conducted by Indian Centre for Medical Research (ICMR) in 2004 estimated that there are 46,000 people in Kolkata who suffer from dementia, out of a total number of 80,000 such patients in West Bengal. Such number for the country has been assessed at 40 lakh in India in the same report,'' the director further informed.

The day care centre, sprawling over 2,000 sq ft, also provides facilities such as a garden, activity and relaxation rooms, for meditation, games, crafts work, music and singing.

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