Authors : Babu Varghese, Mathew Abraham, CT Sudhir Kumar
DOI : 10.18231/2455-8451.2018.0013
Volume : 4
Issue : 2
Year : 0
Page No : 48-51
Alzheimer’s Disease International estimates there are around 4.1 million people in India with dementia. Services available in India are inadequate to meet the needs of people with dementia and their families. Memory clinics are multidisciplinary teams led by specialist doctors with inputs from other professionals like nurses and social workers. This paper will explore the predominant themes emerging from a qualitative study assessing the core principles of memory clinics. The procedural details and the basic characteristics of attendees to one of the earliest memory clinics in the region would be described. Parson centred nature of care, rationalising medications, psychosocial support, multidisciplinary approach and family support were the emerging themes the experts identified as the functions and core principles. In addition to medical treatment, memory clinics can play a major role in appropriately guiding the patients with dementia and their families to address various challenges associated with the condition thus reducing caregiver stress. Memory clinics can also contribute to training, education and research and can play a major role in creating dementia friendly communities. There should be a collaborative approach in establishing appropriate dementia care between various agencies including governmental and non-governmental agencies.
Keywords: Memory clinic, Dementia, Alzheimer’s, ARDSI.