Tejal Somvanshi
The average longevity of Indians has increased due to better medical facilities and awareness about physical fitness. As a result, the number of aging population in our country has gone up. One of the problems faced by senior citizens is dementia.
Dementia is a chronic or persistent disorder of the mental processes due to brain disease or injury. The country allocates only Rs. 16.14 billion– 0.033% of its Rs. 48.21 trillion national budget–to mental health and elder care. This is despite an estimated 5.3 million Indians living with dementia since 2020. This fact was revealed in the 2023 Longitudinal Aging Study of India. The findings were published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry. It is authored by researchers from the Center for Brain Research at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
The urgent need for policy intervention to improve care access for dementia patients is highlighted by the report. The LASI (Longitudinal Aging Study in India) recorded a dementia prevalence rate of 7.4% among those aged 60 and older, with higher rates in women and rural areas. Cases of dementia are projected to quadruple by 2036.
According to Sailesh Mishra, founder of Silver Innings, a dementia care facility in Nalasopara, Mumbai, there is a critical lack of government support for facilities like his. Mishra’s 75-bed facility receives five inquiries daily. They are mainly from middle-class families.
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The IISc paper lays out a framework for addressing dementia care. It calls for public awareness campaigns and urges for accessible diagnostic tools. Public-private partnerships are also advocated by the report. It has called for homes for dementia patients as well as daycare centers.
According to the study, training for frontline workers is set to begin. The need for multidisciplinary teams, digital interventions, and financial assistance for families of dementia patients is highlighted by the report, recommending ‘India’s need for a national dementia policy.’
Establishing a dementia registry, expanding research efforts, implementing rehabilitation programs, and enacting legal protections for dementia patients and their caregivers are among other recommendations of the study. It is hoped that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will cater to these just demands of dementia patients in her budget for 2025-26.
The IISc researchers advocate a national policy and more government aid for dementia patients. The findings were published in the journal The Lancet Psychiatry.
