Nimhans, non-profit organisation to launch support group for dementia caregivers

Nimhans and the non-profit Dementia India Alliance (DIA) will launch an online support group for the caregivers of dementia patients on October 10, World Mental Health Day.

Caring for a dementia patient requires understanding of the illness and making modifications to daily activities, but this often goes unaddressed, say experts at the Geriatric Clinic & Services Unit at Nimhans. Though the clinic gets dementia patients from across the country, many are unable to make frequent visits too. Hence the online support group is meant to provide continued support for caregivers.

The online support group will follow a module that Nimhans developed through a pilot study conducted during Covid. The pilot was conducted among 69 caregivers over a two-month period, with follow-up done for another three months.

Caregivers who participated in the pilot reported a 20.8% increase in their ability to respond to the disruptive behaviours of the patient, and a 32% improvement in the ability to get respite from caregiving responsibility.

They also reported a 25% reduction in feelings of being burdened as a caregiver, and 36% improvement in their ability to control upsetting thoughts about caregiving. Overall, the study found that such a comprehensive psycho-social intervention would improve family members’ ability to accommodate the illness by 20-30%, says Cicil Vasanthra who conducted the research under the guidance of Prof A Thirumoorthy, professor of psychiatric social work at Nimhans.

The support group meetings will be held with 15-20 people who register for that particular session, says Dr P T Shivakumar, psychiatry professor at Nimhans. Eight themes will be covered for the participants over the sessions, such as understanding dementia, handling daily activities, managing behavioural problems and sleep disturbance, ensuring the patient’s safety, and self-care of the caregiver.

The sessions will be anchored by experts and volunteer caregivers. Participants can share their experiences and also learn from others, says Dr Shivakumar.

The sessions will be held every Saturday, except on second Saturdays, from 3 pm to 4 pm.

They will be initially conducted in English and Kannada, and then expanded to more languages as per demand.

To enrol for the programme, visit www.vmsnimhans.in