As per "The Dementia India Report 2020" It is estimated that 5.3 million people above the age of 60 have dementia in India in 2020. This equals to one in 27 people thus making Alzheimer’s the most common type of dementia.
We started from very humble roots, our esteemed founder Dr. Sushma Chawla used to visit 10 – 12 people with Dementia (PwD) and their family members each and every day. Looking after their needs and comforting them the way only she can. And, not only that she also used to provide much needed training to the family members of the patients so that they are completely aware as to how to look after their loved ones. Fast forward to now, we as one of the finest NGO’s in India in our domain have conducted over a 1000 successful Awareness programs.
It is extremely important to us that we raise awareness of dementia throughout the country. Our primary aim is to make sure that NO ONE faces this stressful condition by themselves. We are aware that there are people out there who are extremely uncomfortable talking about these issues to their loved ones. We want to take this opportunity to highly urge these people to come forward and speak about this distressful situation. Please get the help you so richly deserve.
It is extremely rewarding to for us a closely knit community to hear from wonderful people thanking us for offering a place to receive support and expressing how much more positive they feel after speaking to us. Dementia is by far the biggest health and social care challenge faced by our society today. We are highly committed and passionate about this cause. If you want to talk about Dementia, we humbly urge you to do by calling us on our 24/7 Helpline number *+91 9810306724*
Firstly, let’s talk about when Dementia occurs. Dementia predominantly set is when nerve cells in a person’s brain stop working. Although it typically happens in older people, it is not an inevitable part of aging. The brain’s natural deterioration happens to everyone as they grow older, but it occurs more quickly in people with dementia.
Memory Assessment of all elders above the age of 50 years is conducted to identify the cases of MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment). They shall be advised the treatment and brain stimulation activities to considerably slow the process of decline of memory.
It has been well documented that Alzheimer disease sets in about 10 -15 years after the diagnosis of MCI. This project will help our seniors to lead a quality life and reduce the emotional and financial burden on the family.
Memory Screening started in late 2019. Till date 1000 screening has been done and 80 cases of Alzheimer have been detected. Their monthly follow-up is also in process and is continued.
We are extremely proud to announce that our camps have an almost identical participation of both men and women coming from economically challenged communities and other lower income groups. Our camps have trained clinicians who use HMSE, ICE-E scales in order to conduct their range of assessments. All our sessions are held in a very positive, enthusiastic environment with people who are a hundred percent dedicated, committed and passionate to this noble cause. Major languages spoken in these camps are Hindi and/or English. Memory assessments and neuropsychological evaluations are conducted by highly experienced mental health specialists and clinical psychologists.
Our camps help raise awareness of risk factors for dementia and increase understanding of dementia symptoms vs normal ageing. They also help identify cases of depression and anxiety requiring geriatric mental health services. We have a super-efficient cognitive test (FCT) designed to capture deficits in five domains of cognitive abilities, including episodic memory, language fluency, time orientation, visuospatial function, and executive function.
Our Cognitive screening test has amazing sensitivity and specificity for detecting cognitive impairment at the early stage, including mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild dementia. This through in-depth process is a proven methodology to delay dementia. We highly encourage ALL PSUs to come forward and volunteer/participate in our memory screening camps. The message we are trying to promote constantly through our camps is for people from all ages, religion and backgrounds to come forward and get the necessary help needed. PLEASE REACH OUT TO US TODAY ON our 24/7 Helpline number *011-2922-1714*
At Hope EK ASHA, we are incredibly proud of our foundation and how this one-of-a-kind the community came about. Every Sunday, our distinguished founder used to conduct Share & Care Meetups from her clinic situated in her house. The members of this group consisted of mostly family caregivers having kids of their own. Continuing this rich tradition, we have formed a WhatsApp group called “Caregiver’s Forum” from phone No. 98100-30302 consisting of family caregivers, volunteers, panel doctors of Hope Ek A.S.H.A. and willing senior citizens. Now this group consists of 90+ members - all compassionate professionals!
