Free Residential Dementia Care for 100 Needy Elders Near Doddaballapur

Nightingales Medical Trust (NMT) will inaugurate Nightingales Smriti Gram,an integrated dementia care village at Thirumagondanahalli village in Doddaballapur taluk,Bengaluru Rural district,on November 6.

The facility will provide free residential care to 100 eligible senior citizens with dementia from economically disadvantaged backgrounds in its first phase.

The initiative aims to address the lack of access to specialised dementia care among vulnerable elderly people.

Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader Fareed will inaugurate the facility,while Minor Irrigation,Science and Technology Minister D.Ajay Singh will preside over the function.

Chikkaballapur MP K.Sudhakar and Doddaballapur MLA Dheeraj Muniraj will attend as guests of honour.

Smriti Gram will bring together specialised residential dementia care,caregiver training, research and innovation.

The trust said the initiative was planned as a model that could be replicated across the country.

NMT has appealed to families,hospitals,doctors,NGOs, social workers,community organisations and government agencies to refer elderly people who urgently need institutional care.

Priority will be given to people aged 55 and above with a confirmed diagnosis of dementia,particularly those from economically disadvantaged families who require round-the-clock supervision.

Those living alone, neglected,lacking caregiver support or dependent on elderly family members who can no longer provide adequate care will also be considered.

Priority will be given to people with moderate dementia and significant care needs.

Admission will be subject to clinical assessment, verification of eligibility and the facility’s admission process.Meeting the eligibility criteria will not automatically guarantee admission.

“Financial constraints should never be a barrier to quality dementia care.We appeal to the public and organisations working with vulnerable older people to help us identify needy elders with dementia who have no access to appropriate care,”said Dr. Radha S.Murthy, managing trustee of Nightingales Medical Trust.

S.Premkumar Raja,secretary of the trust,said Smriti Gram aspired to establish new benchmarks in dementia care by integrating residential services, capacity building and research.

Established in 1998,NMT has nearly three decades of experience in eldercare,dementia services, caregiver training and senior citizen empowerment.

The trust has a long-term vision of developing Smriti Gram into a 300-bed care ecosystem.