Mind Games: Understanding dementia
- Bindiya Chari
- Times Network Apr 25, 2024, 20:00 IST IST
Lack of dedicated care homes for dementia patients in Goa is a major public health problem, exacerbated by the absence of family members due to migration.
When Maria Fernandes, 85, was diagnosed with dementia during the first Covid-19 wave in 2020, she had no family around. Living alone in a large house in her ancestral village, it was her neighbours who kept tabs on her, as her son and daughter-in-law, who live in the UK, couldn’t come home due to travel restrictions.
She isn’t the only one. In a state that has over 1.5 lakh senior citizens, Fernandes is just one of many who have dementia spectrum disorder but nobody to look after them, since their families are abroad.
She isn’t the only one. In a state that has over 1.5 lakh senior citizens, Fernandes is just one of many who have dementia spectrum disorder but nobody to look after them, since their families are abroad.