KOCHI: A slew of measures, including setting up centres for elderly care and providing proper training for caregivers, will be unveiled soon as part of the proposal to make Kerala a dementia-friendly state.
The ‘Ormathoni’ initiative of the Kerala Social Security Mission (KSSM), under the Department of Social Justice, follows up on the successful implementation of the dementia-friendly project in Ernakulam by the Centre for Neuroscience of Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat).
The social justice department has allotted Rs 1 crore for the project, which is expected to be launched this year. Shibu A S, executive director of KSSM, said the project proposal has been submitted to the government. “We have proposed several steps to make the state dementia-friendly,” he told TNIE.
Identification of dementia patients with the help of grass-roots-level health workers, primary screening at Vayomithram clinics, advanced-level screening with the help of experts at the primary- or upper-level health centres, training for caregivers with the help of local governments, and setting up two centres in Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur to take care of the elderly suffering from severe dementia are some of the steps proposed. The proposal was prepared after studying other initiatives, including those of the Alzheimer’s & Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI), and the Dementia-friendly Ernakulam project.
Shibu said inter-departmental collaboration is required for the implementation of projects. “It is important to create public awareness. Many people misunderstood dementia as a psychological problem,” he said. The Dementia-friendly Ernakulam initiative resulted in Kochi being declared the first dementia-friendly city in the country.
Dr Baby Chakrapani, assistant professor at Cusat’s centre for Neuroscience, said the initiative envisages a dementia-inclusive society. “The initiative includes awareness, orientation and education programmes, public campaigns and surveys. It involves setting up care systems such as memory cafes and memory clinics, and linking social and medical-care systems with governmental departments,” he said.
‘Social workers to be deployed in government hospitals’
In a move to enhance the features offered to patients, the health department has decided to utilise the services of social workers in government hospitals. They will be part of a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff, coordinating and assisting patients and their family members. Students pursuing studies in Master of Social Work (MSW) in various colleges will train in medical colleges as part of their internship.
Recently, as many as 15 MSW graduates from various colleges trained at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College to familiarise themselves with the hospital environment. The services of social workers will be extended to all medical colleges in the state in a phased manner. The development comes as part of a quality improvement initiative being implemented in medical colleges across the state. It is the belief that the influx of a trained workforce will greatly augment hospital services.
Health Minister Veena George said the timely implementation of these services, rendered to patients and caregivers, is as equally important as providing the best treatment. The minister made the statement after convening a meeting of officers on Sunday. She has also directed the hospital administrators to set up control rooms and public relations officers in order to make the hospitals more patient-friendly.