Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India - An Organisation to Improve the Quality of Life of the People with Dementia

The XI National Conference of the Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India was held in Trivandrum, the capital of God’s own country between the 12th and 14th of November 2005. The Conference was jointly organized by the Trivandrum Chapter of ARDSI and the Departments of Neurology and Radiology of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology. As the theme of the conference was ‘Dementia and Care – An Indian Perspective, the focus was on researchers and sociologists from all across the country sharing their experiences and presenting the work done in their areas of specialisation.

The formal inauguration of the Conference was held on the 11th evening. While inaugurating the Conference, the Hon. Chief Minister, Sri. Oommen Chandy gave an assurance that his government would provide support in setting up a national institute for dementia treatment, care and research. The Guest of Honour, Mr. Harry Cayton, OBE, during his address stressed on the importance of removing fear from the minds of people - whether it is the persons with dementia or their family members or the society at large in order to improve the quality of care, to add dignity to the life of the people with dementia and to change the outlook of society.

Over 250 delegates attended the conference from all across the country and from countries like UK, Oman, Germany and Australia. Several students and carers also took part in the conference resulting in rich exchange of ideas and experiences. A special session was devoted exclusively to Caring and Carer Related Issues where Ms. Jo Hague from UK, Dr. Carole Archibald from UK, Mr. Peter McHale from Australia and Dr. Rajini from Kottayam presented papers on various aspects of care and training of carers. There were also 13 poster presentations and awards were given for the best 2 poster presentations. For the first time in India, a full day’s imaging symposium dedicated to imaging in cognition and dementia was held which concluded with a live demonstration of functional MRI by the Brain-Mapping and Functional MRI laboratory of Katholic University, Luven, Belgium, via video-conferencing. The day’s proceedings were widely appreciated by the attending delegates The conference provided a very good platform to learn about the latest advancements in the field of dementia and the exchange of ideas and sharing of information resulted in generating new and better ideas for dementia care and management.

The Conference addressed wide-ranging issues comprising of social and legal aspects, neuropsychological aspects, clinical, pathological and management aspects and care giving issues of dementia. Neurologists, psychiatrists, radiologists, psychologists, patients and carers and family members participated in the conference. The panel of international speakers included Mr. Harry Cayton from Department of Health, Govt. of UK, Dr. John R. Hodges from University of Cambridge, UK, Dr. Clifford R. Jack from Mayo Clinic, USA, Dr. Bob Woods from University of Wales, UK, Dr. Rainer Goebel from Maastricht University, Netherlands, Mr. Glenn Rees from Alzheimer’s Australia and Dr. Francesca Pazzela from University ‘La Sapienza’ Italy. Some of the national experts were Dr. P Satishchandra, Dr. Shobini Rao, and Dr. Mathew Varghese, all three from National Institute for Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, Dr. Ravi Nehru from GB Pant Hospital, New Delhi, Dr. C.S. Mukherji from Calcutta, Dr. Suvarna Alladi from Nizam Institute for Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Dr. Urvashi Shah from King Edward Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Dr. Sheilu Sreenivasan from Dignity Foundation, Mumbai, Dr. Bapi Raju from University of Hyderabad, Dr. K.S. Shaji from Medical College, Trissur, Dr. Mathew Abraham from Indira Gandhi Hospital, Ernakulam, Dr. Amit Dias from Medical College, Goa Dr. P.S. Mathuranth, Dr. Asha Kishore, Dr. C. Kesavadas and Dr. T. Krishnamoorthy all from Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology and and the Chairman of ARDSI, Dr. K. Jacob Roy, along with other eminent speakers.