The Alzheimer’s and Related Disorder Society of India (ARDSI) has a national office and 22 chapters across the country. ARDSI has conducted numerous dementia public awareness sessions in 2018. They also have conducted over 30 awareness programs targeted towards various sectors of the community.

ARDSI organises several programmes to raise dementia awareness, although these programmes have been primarily concentrated in urban areas. The most noticeable aspects of these programmes are the involvement of various community groups, including students, young people, people with dementia, caregivers, carers, doctors, non-governmental organizations and others who have an active role to play in addressing dementia. The organisation set up twenty awareness campaigns during World Alzheimer’s month. These campaigns raised awareness through multiple mediums such as FM radio, a regional news channel and interviews with various other media outlets. The ARDSI chapters have also introduced campaigns to bring awareness through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp support groups (ARDSI, 2020).

Some of the mediums used for raising awareness of dementia by the various chapters are as follows:

• The Kolkata chapter reached out to the general population by targeting different sectors each week. These sectors included: health, corporate, transportation, state/local administration, and social support services.
• The Hyderabad Chapter took part in the well-publicized Purple Run and Dementia Ride as part of dementia friendly community project
• The Mumbai Chapter opened the first Dementia Friendly Cafe in India.
• ARDSI Mumbai Chapter & Smriti Vishvam: Universe of Memory is the first dementia day care in India to receive the International Quality Certificate of Registration ISO 9001:2015
• The Delhi and Guwahati chapters raised awareness through radio and television programmes, memory walks, memory screening camps seminars and cultural programmes.
• DemClinic launched by Nightingales Medical Trust (NMT) in association with ARDSI Bangalore, is the first of its kind offering a telemedicine expert-led cognitive assessment platform for the elderly to increase access to dementia screening, diagnosis, and care (NMT, n.d.).
• DemLink App also by NMT aims to educate families of loved ones with dementia and provides access to care and support via a mobile app (NMT, n.d.)
• ARDSI Hyderabad offers a WhatsApp group called ZBCHA which connects dementia
  caregivers and professionals.
• ARDSI Hyderabad conducted a hybrid conference with the theme “Dementia Care in Family and Community—Building Resilience and Hope” in November 2021.

References:

Alzherimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India (2020). World Alzheimer’s Month. Retrieved from https://ardsi.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Ardsi-WAM-2020.pdf

NIGHTINGALES MEDICAL TRUST (n.d.). DemClinic and DemLink. Available from: https://nightingaleseldercare.com/demclinic.html