Families predominantly provide long-term care for persons with dementia at their homes (ARDSI, 2010). There is multidisciplinary care provided by few clinics located in tertiary referral hospitals. The team generally consists of specialists such as a neurologist or psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric social worker, speech therapist, occupational therapist and are often associated with NGO partners like ARDSI chapters, NMT, and Samvedna which further provide in-depth support.

For example, the Dr R. M. Verma Sub-speciality block at NIMHANS has 10 in-patient beds exclusive for persons with dementia, which are provided at subsidised rates. This speciality block provides counselling, cognitive stimulation and speech therapy for the persons living with dementia, and also provides family caregivers with dementia counselling and support.

References:

Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India. (2010). THE DEMENTIA INDIA REPORT 2010: Prevalence, impact, cost and services for dementia. New Delhi. Available from: https://ardsi.org/pdf/annual%20report.pdf