A dementia specific initiative has been operating in Kerala since 2014 (a state in South India). The Department of Social Welfare, Government of Kerala, and the Kerala State Social Security Mission (KSSM) with ARDSI as its knowledge partner, have been jointly implementing the Kerala State Initiative on Dementia (KSID).

This initiative has the following mandates (Social Justice Department and ARDSI, 2014):

• Creating comprehensive dementia awareness in the community (information, education and communication materials and website content prepared/developed and disseminated by ARDSI) (Social Justice Department and ARDSI, 2014),
• Equipping social and health care personnel with the skills required to provide dementia care (ARDSI currently provides training to the personnel on dementia Care) (Social Justice Department and ARDSI, 2014),
• Establishing memory clinics in medical colleges for early diagnosis and intervention (ARDSI has published memory clinic guidelines) (Social Justice Department and ARDSI, 2014),
• Establishing Model Dementia Day Care and Full-time Care Centres in all districts (one each functional at Cochin and Trissur districts of Kerala) (Social Justice Department and ARDSI, 2014),
• Setting up telephone helpline services for dementia information and support (ARDSI has set up a Dementia National Help Line at Cochin) (Social Justice Department and ARDSI, 2014)
• Developing protocols for the diagnosis, treatment, and care of the dementia (ARDSI has developed standard operating procedures for Day care centres and full-time Dementia care centres) (Social Justice Department and ARDSI, 2014).

References:

Social Justice Department and ARDSI (2014). Kerala State Initiative on Dementia. Alzheimer’s Disease International.