State to get memory clinics to aid elderly patients

Mumbai, October 9: While mental health is largely associated with adolescence, with the rapid rise in senior population across the country, governments have recently acknowledged geriatric mental health as a public issue. As World Mental Health day is observed on Friday, it appears that the mental recession of the elderly is finally getting attention across Maharashtra.

Of late the city has seen an increase in the number of memory clinics and slowly these are reaching across to tier two cities and rural Maharashtra. In less than a month, Thane’s civil hospital and mental health hospital will have full-fledged memory clinics. “Currently both the hospitals are only screening patients for mental illnesses. There are vacant posts for clinical psychologists as soon as they are filled, both the hospitals will start memory clinics,” said Dr Sanjay Kumawat, consultant to the state mental health authority.

Memory clinics help screening for dementia, counsel relatives of patients, help patients recall past events and provide them with techniques to recall things by giving them memory cards. They also provide them with proper medication for certain behavioural problems that may occur in geriatric patients.

The state’s first mental health hospital and research center dedicated solely to geriatric mental health care will start at Ambajogai in Marathwada region. “A seven crore project including 100 beds and fully equipped research center on neurological and psychiatric disorders will soon come up in Ambajogai. The Government doctors will run the hospital. The project has recently got cabinet approval,” said Dr Kumawat.

“Along with memory clinics, the hospitals with the local police are planning to start a 24 hour helpline in Thane, to help the geriatric patients in cases of abuse or neglect,” added Dr Kumawat.

Among the elderly, the major mental illness is dementia. Among people above 65 years, dementia is seen in 15 to 17 percent of the old population whereas the mild cognitive impairment (new learning affected, also delayed recall) affects five to seven percent of the geriatric population.

Soon memory clinics will come up in mental hospitals at Ratnagiri, Pune, Nagpur, and Thane. Mumbai’s BMC hospitals like B Y L Nair, Sion hospital and D Y Patil hospital in Navi Mumbai are successfully running memory clinics.

The state is also planning a central institute of ageing at Yerwada mental hospital that will offer post graduation course in geriatric mental health.

Over nine percent of the 13 million people residing in Mumbai are elderly. In case of elderly patients, emphasis is often laid on the physical heath while the mental health is ignored. Because of their age, elders get cut off from the social circle and go into a shell. This sometimes leads to depression which may result in a suicide.

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