As many as 200 people attended a Continuing Medical Education (CME) on recent advances in dementia care which was organised during the launch of an integrated Memory Clinic at Max Super Specialty Hospital, Dehradun.
MP Rajya Sabha Tarun Vijay was the chief guest during the occasion and Tara Singh Vachani, CEO, Antara Senior living was the guest of honour. The experts from Max Institute of Neurosciences, Dehradun provided insights regarding the different causes of dementia, the symptoms presented, and available diagnostics and therapies.
They informed that there were 36 million elders worldwide living with dementia, a progressive and degenerative brain disorder. Nearly 7.7 million new cases were added to this every year at the rate of one in every four seconds. The 3.7 million people living in India suffered from the disease.
Emphasising on the need for Memory Clinics in India, Dr Manish Tomar Consultant- Psychiatry at Max Institute of Neurosciences, Dehradun said that all our efforts behind the CME was aimed at highlighting the urgency of the situation amongst the masses.
While dementia could not be cured but it could certainly be managed and this was done best by qualified professionals including neurologists and psychiatrists trained in dementia care. Through the memory clinic we would not only diagnose elders with dementia but also educate their families and provide them supportive guidance which was needed to manage those with dementia. In the absence of memory clinics, dementia was diagnosed but not explained properly, resulting in untold distress to the caregiver. We have the benefit of having a multi disciplinary team at our disposal which aimed to provide complete care package in one place, asserted Dr Tomar. Gaurav Rekhi, General Manager Operations, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Dehradun said that our hospital would seek to provide an all round focus on patient care.
Speaking on the occasion, Tara Singh Vachani, CEO, Antara Senior living said that given that dementia was an issue faced by many seniors today, it was a very pertinent part of the Antara Senior living value proposition.
India currently has over 98 million seniors and this number is growing at 3.8 per cent per annum. With this growth the need to provide services for all age related diseases becomes imperative, especially dementia which firstly, lacked awareness and secondly lacked ways to manage it.
She said that dementia needed to be taken care of from various aspects like clinical, social, psychological, architectural and most of all with sensitivity and compassion. This level of comprehensive service did not exist in India today.