Why dementia care centers and assisted living facilities can be the best solutions
According to the Dementia in India 2020 report, about 5.3 million Indians aged over 60 years suffered from dementia in 2020, with this number expected to exceed 14 million by 2050. Yet, dementia and dementia care are hardly spoken about unlike other prevalent diseases, and access to support systems is often inadequate in most parts of the country.
Living with dementia is an uphill battle for seniors, and so is it for the primary caregivers. Often, caring for an elderly person with dementia isn’t just one person’s job but needs the involvement of many people to share tasks and responsibilities throughout the day. The elderly living with dementia experience ongoing, and often rapid, changes in their thinking, memory, reasoning and decision making, affecting their everyday life and routine activities in multiple ways. This makes them dependent for simple tasks like climbing stairs, eating, taking medicines or using electrical appliances. As the disease progresses, they will need more and more help with simple everyday tasks, which may even include bathing and grooming. Their safety within the home becomes a concern, calling for continuous monitoring by an attendant. This can be daunting for an average family, where most people are engaged in working or studying fulltime, spending most of the day outside the house. They may need to employ a fulltime caretaker or two trained in dementia care, which is not easy to find and often expensive.
Dementia care can drain a family’s resources – time, energy and money. According to a research report published in the Indian Journal of Public Health in 2013, it costs between INR 45,000 to INR 2 lakhs per month to care for a dementia patient in urban areas in India, with the cost increasing further as the disease progresses. Dementia, with Alzheimers disease being the most common form of it, is a chronic disease with no cure. It has an average life expectancy of around eight to 10 years after diagnosis, placing a significant responsibility as caregivers and financial stress on families. Caregiving and medicines apart, dementia patients also require regular counselling and cognitive therapies provided at only a few specialized centres, calling for regular travel with a family member. Considering these challenges and limitations, it can be a boon for families to find a good dementia care center or assisted living facility, which provides all-round care, support and therapy under one roof by trained professionals.
Amongst the dementia care homes in Mumbai, Dignity Lifestyle Retirement Township’s assisted living centre called Dignity Lasting Memories is the largest such dedicated facility for seniors. Assisted living in Mumbai is rare to find, especially for seniors, and Dignity Lasting Memories is a boon for the elderly living with dementia and their families. Located 90km from Mumbai city, in Neral, Maharashtra, Dignity Lifestyle is a picturesque, custom-designed senior citizen township located at the foothills of the Matheran mountains. The dedicated assisted living facility within, Dignity Lasting Memories is carefully designed to provide “tender loving care” to senior citizens with dementia, especially those who need 24/7 support to carry out their day-to-day activities. The entire facility is disabled-friendly with easy, wheel-chair access to all amenities, including nursing care stations, activity rooms and dining rooms that are available on every floor. The dedicated Dementia Care Centre provides long-term, residential care for seniors with the best possible comfort, medical attention and therapeutic support.
Dignity lifestyle is a renowned organization that dedicates several dementia caring centers to needy and elderly people across India. Dignity Lifestyle Retirement Home near Mumbai is our largest such residential dementia care home. Let your every worry melt away in the caring hands of Dignity Lifestyle, where your elderly family member will find comfort, dignity and healing, just the way they deserve.