The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Geriatric centre to come up in city

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Geriatric centre to come up in city

Staff Reporter

It will provide care for those in advanced stages of dementia

BANGALORE: A geriatric centre, first of its kind in the country, to cater to the growing number of persons suffering from dementia will come up in the city soon.

The centre is expected to provide institutional care for those in advanced stages of dementia, besides providing training to paramedics and members of the family that has persons suffering from the debilitating disorder.

Work on the centre being planned by the Nightingales Medical Trust at a cost of around Rs. 1.5 crore will commence from January 2007, and is expected to become functional by mid-2007.

Honorary secretary of the trust S. Premkumar Raja told The Hindu that a specialised centre on dementia care had become necessary as the country did not have any. There are approximately around 30,000 persons suffering from dementia in Bangalore, he added.

The geriatric centre is likely to receive help from a few institutions in the U.S. on planning and equipping the centre besides in the area of research. Mr. Raja said: "Even small towns in the U.S. had dementia care centres, as six to eight per cent of the population suffer from the disorder. In India, the national average has been placed any where between three and five per cent."

Identity cards

The process for distribution of identity cards for senior citizens through Nightingales Medical Trust was launched in the city on Tuesday.

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