The State government had come up with an ambitious initiative in 2014 to strengthen healthcare support for dementia patients but, even three years later, not much has happened on the ground.
The programme had envisaged creation of dementia care homes, but the necessary infrastructure is yet to come up. Health Department officials say that funds are not a problem, but no dementia care homes has come up to replace the day care centres run as part of voluntary initiatives.
Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) vice-chairman K. Jacob Roy told The Hindu that though, after years of advocacy, the State government had come up with Srithipadham, a first of its kind initiative in the country, to provide care for dementia patients.
Day care centres have been set up at Kunnamkulam in Thrissur and Edavanakkad in Ernakulam as part of the initiative. The day care centre at Kunnamkulam is equipped to accommodate 12 patients and now has nine. At Edavanakkad, the 24-hour care centre has the capacity to accommodate 15 patients and is fully occupied. It is expected to add 10 more patients once the old-age home attached to it is shifted to another place.
According to officials of the Social Justice Department, day care centres can become operational in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram this year if the infrastructure is completed. As things stand, it is the voluntary sector that plays a key role in providing care to dementia patients. First day care centre for dementia patients was started in Kochi by ARDSI with funding from Helpage India. These day care centres used to cater to,on an average, 15-20 patients a day. They are particularly of help to family whose key members are working.
Most of these centres function with local effort and support from agencies such as Helpage India and Rotary International. The biggest challenge is transportation of the patients. On an average, it costs around ₹ 40,000 a month to maintain a van. This is where the local panchayats could step in to ensure better care for the elderly, says Dr. Roy.
(EOM)
