India currently has about 4.41 million persons with dementia. However, only less than 10% receive diagnosis and appropriate care. Dementia Care in SCARF (DEMCARES) is a project of Schizophrenia Research Foundation India, a leading non-governmental organisation in mental health care and research in Chennai, India.
The Team
Dr. Sridhar Vaitheswaran (MD, MRCPsych) HOD DEMCARES
Sridhar is a consultant psychiatrist at the Schizophrenia Research Foundation. He has been the head of the DEMCARES project since 2015. Sridhar’s interests lie in building capacity among health care staff and developing services to improve care of persons with dementia in Chennai.
Dr. Sridhar Vaitheswaran (MD, MRCPsych)HOD DEMCARES
Sridhar is a consultant psychiatrist at the Schizophrenia Research Foundation. He has been the head of the DEMCARES project since 2015. Sridhar’s interests lie in building capacity among health care staff and developing services to improve care of persons with dementia in Chennai.
Dr Ruthshee Suresh (M.D. Psychiatry)
Ruthshee is a consultant psychiatrist at Demcares, SCARF. She is working on developing an intervention involving music to aid dementia care. Her interests lie i in caring and treating the elderly, and wishes to help create an environment that is conducive and mindful of the needs of the elderly.
Dr Ruthshee Suresh (M.D. Psychiatry)
Ruthshee is a consultant psychiatrist at Demcares, SCARF. She is working on developing an intervention involving music to aid dementia care. Her interests lie i in caring and treating the elderly, and wishes to help create an environment that is conducive and mindful of the needs of the elderly.
Ms.B.Suhavana (M.Phil, Clinical Psychology)Psychologist
Suhavana is currently involved in providing psychological interventions for persons with dementia and their caregivers, training mental health professionals in dementia identification and management as well as validating an attitudes to dementia scale among college students.Her interest areas include neuropsychology, tools that aid in dementia screening and culturally relevant tools that aid in evaluating sub cortical functioning.
Ms.B.Suhavana (M.Phil, Clinical Psychology)Psychologist
Suhavana is currently involved in providing psychological interventions for persons with dementia and their caregivers, training mental health professionals in dementia identification and management as well as validating an attitudes to dementia scale among college students.Her interest areas include neuropsychology, tools that aid in dementia screening and culturally relevant tools that aid in evaluating sub cortical functioning.
Nirupama Natarajan (MA Applied Psychology - Clinical) Psychologist
Nirupama Natarajan (MA Applied Psychology - Clinical) Psychologist
Nirupama is a psychologist with the DEMCARES team, she is working on the feasibility of using robotics in dementia care in our country. She is interested in delivering cognitive stimulation therapy and psychosocial
interventions for caregivers, and dementia care practice research. In addition, she is working on understanding polypharmacy and antipsychotic use in Dementia.
Gayathri Nagarajan (Msc. Applied Psychology) Psychologist
Gayathri is a psychologist with the DEMCARES team. She is working on adapting interventions for caregivers of persons with dementia for use in India. She is also involved in assessing sensory impairments in dementia and developing interventions for the same. Her interests include neuropsychology, understanding the impacts of neurodegenerative diseases on psychosocial functioning and working with caregivers to provide supportive counseling.
Gayathri Nagarajan (Msc. Applied Psychology) Psychologist
Gayathri is a psychologist with the DEMCARES team. She is working on adapting interventions for caregivers of persons with dementia for use in India. She is also involved in assessing sensory impairments in dementia and developing interventions for the same. Her interests include neuropsychology, understanding the impacts of neurodegenerative diseases on psychosocial functioning and working with caregivers to provide supportive counseling.
Ms Shreenila Venkatesan
Shreenila is a psychologist working on adapting psychosocial interventions for people with dementia and their caregivers for use in LMIC settings. Her interests include clinical neuropsychology, effects of cognitive training on psychopathology and use of art as a therapeutic medium.
Ms Shreenila Venkatesan
Shreenila is a psychologist working on adapting psychosocial interventions for people with dementia and their caregivers for use in LMIC settings. Her interests include clinical neuropsychology, effects of cognitive training on psychopathology and use of art as a therapeutic medium.
Mrs. Chamundeshwari
Ms. Saraswathi Srinivasan (GNM)
Saraswathi is a nursing assistant at the Centre for Active Aging. She assists with providing basic psychological therapies and basic nursing services. Her interests include engaging clients in innovative and cognitively stimulating ways and ensuring their physical health needs are met.
Ms. Saraswathi Srinivasan (GNM)
Saraswathi is a nursing assistant at the Centre for Active Aging. She assists with providing basic psychological therapies and basic nursing services. Her interests include engaging clients in innovative and cognitively stimulating ways and ensuring their physical health needs are met.
Dr Subashini Sargunan, M.D. Psychiatry, M.B.A.,
Dr Subashini is a Consultant psychologist at DEMCARES in SCARF and Sri T.S.Santhanam Center for Elderly Care. She takes special interest in nurturing positive psychological aspects of individuals. Her interests lie in spreading awareness about Dementia, encouraging person centered care in managing persons with dementia and training caregivers to develop strategies to assist with good communication, planning, developing appropriate activities and understanding changed behaviour in people living with dementia.
Dr Subashini Sargunan, M.D. Psychiatry, M.B.A.,
Dr Subashini is a Consultant psychologist at DEMCARES in SCARF and Sri T.S.Santhanam Center for Elderly Care. She takes special interest in nurturing positive psychological aspects of individuals. Her interests lie in spreading awareness about Dementia, encouraging person centered care in managing persons with dementia and training caregivers to develop strategies to assist with good communication, planning, developing appropriate activities and understanding changed behaviour in people living with dementia.
Dr. Vaishnavi Ramanujam,
Dr. Vaishnavi Ramanujam
Dr. Vaishnavi Ramanujam, M.D. Psychiatry – Dr Vaishnavi is a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Schizophrenia Research Foundation. Her main interest is in the field of Geriatric Psychiatry and has been working with the Dementia Care Unit at the Schizophrenia Research Foundation. Her areas of interest is in developing systems of care for the elderly mental health and reducing stigma about mental health problems by education in the community.
Ms Nivedhitha S
Ms Nivedhitha S is a psychologist involved in providing psychosocial interventions for management of dementia. She has worked on adapting cognitive assessment tools for persons with dementia and adapting caregiver interventions for use in India. She is currently working on developing peer-led supportive interventions for caregivers of persons with dementia. Her interests include developing assessment tools to assess cognitive functions in persons with other physical comorbidities in dementia, understanding and developing person-centered intervention plan for persons with dementia and managing caregiver distress.
Ms Nivedhitha S
Ms Nivedhitha S is a psychologist involved in providing psychosocial interventions for management of dementia. She has worked on adapting cognitive assessment tools for persons with dementia and adapting caregiver interventions for use in India. She is currently working on developing peer-led supportive interventions for caregivers of persons with dementia. Her interests include developing assessment tools to assess cognitive functions in persons with other physical comorbidities in dementia, understanding and developing person-centered intervention plan for persons with dementia and managing caregiver distress.
Acknowledgements:
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Our volunteers, Chandra Periyanayagam, Mr Lakshminarayanan, Mrs UshaLakshminarayan and Mrs Komalavalli Santhanam for their time and meticulous work
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