World Alzheimer’s Day: September 21; Ask, create awareness

Dr Mangala Borkar

Jagan was a normal, fairly intelligent man, who worked as a supervisor in a factory. Three years after he retired, he gradually started growing more and more forgetful, losing his way, not recognising friends, avoiding social activities. He was diagnosed to have dementia.

His two children stayed in another city and his wife had a difficult time managing him and his violent outbursts. He had finally to be placed in an asylum.

When Aditi’s mother-in-law developed dementia, she had to quit her job and stay with her. Aditi resented the time she had to spend looking after her mother-in-law and started neglecting her, sometimes shouting at or pushing, shoving or even slapping the hapless old lady.

Meena’s mother developed Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 68. Meena took her from one clinic to another and even mortgaged their house, but to no avail. She was left destitute and depressed.

Losing one’s mental awareness has devastating effects on the person, and even more, the family. Support is generally inadequate and it causes severe stress to the person caring for the patient with dementia.

Hiring some help may be out of reach of most, so it is mostly the family that has to manage. That too, often one of the ladies in the house.

We have more than 14 crore senior citizens in our country and the number is growing. As people live longer, the chance of developing dementia increases. A system has to be devised for the care of these elders, that is affordable, available and acceptable.

A lot of government schemes have now come up, for the well-being of seniors. Dementia needs to get priority as it is one of the most difficult problems for a care giver to handle.

Community support is also necessary. Sharing of care giving by all family members can go a long way. Day care centres, where the patients can be kept for a few hours, can give a little relief to the caregiver. There is a drastic need to produce more caregivers who are trained to manage dementia cases with empathy.

Regular, subsidised visits by professional caregivers will help to prevent or decrease the stress suffered by the family caregiver and also prevent mistreatment of the unaware senior.

(The writer is Professor, PG department of Geriatrics,

Government Medical College, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar).