The Karnataka government has included dementia in the Gruha Arogya Scheme.
Bangalore has no government-owned fulltime dementia care center though the number of dementia patients in Karnataka is higher than the national average.
There are only two full time residential care centre for dementia patients in Bangalore. One is Niksha Dementia village located in Yelahanka, other is Sumukha facilities which have two small homes at Jayanagar and Kankapura road. Nightingales Medical Trust is another dementia care centre which has residential care for Dementia patients but it is usually limited to a month at a time, in cases of emergency.
Kiran, a representative of Nikisa said that they provide a residential program according to the need of the patient and the stage of disease they are at. . The programs start from six months and go on to a couple of years.
He added “The facility includes 70 rooms and most of them are generally full. The average age of patients is around 80 years. The average cost of the one month residential program is Rs.75,000. We teach families how to take care of the patients and also try to adapt patients towards changes, before releasing them.”
According to the Alzheimer association, In the third stage of the disease, patients require around- the- clock assistance with personal care Patients lose awareness of experiences and their surroundings. They find communicating difficult and even find difficulty in walking, sitting and swallowing.
Old age homes are selective about taking in dementia residents. Sudama old age home is another institution which takes in dementia patients.
Nanda, a representative of Sudama old age homes said “We generally take dementia residents based on their condition. If they are in the third stage of dementia we do not take them. Some of them might be too moody and irritable to be handled by the staff. The ones which can be handled are taken care of. The basic room costs from Rs.4,000- Rs.6,000 per month, But the medical equipment and other facilities are charged extra, which may range up to Rs.20,000 to Rs. 50,000.”
The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS), announced in 2021 that government-run dementia care centre will soon come up at Sakalawara Community Mental Health Centre campus. It was supposed to begin its operations from this year, but the centre is still not operational.
The outpatient department of NIMHANS handles neuropsychiatric problems in elderly by Geriatric clinic and services and NIMHANS OPD Services.
Geriatric and clinic services department clarified that the work on building dementia care centre is almost done and will be operational soon.
The aim of the centre is to provide affordable healthcare for dementia patients, with a subsidy of 50 per cent.
Kiran also added that it is important to have all the facilities needed ready for patients which are in third stage of disease.
The number of dementia patients in the state is even higher than the national average. On the occasion of World Alzheimer’s day, the Karnataka government launched a dementia action plan. The government also declared the condition a public health priority.
