When director Mani Ratnam asked veteran dancer Leela Samson to act in O Kadhal Kanmani , she wondered, ‘Why me?’
“But eventually the role became real to me. After the film was released, I’ve had many, many people come up to me and say my character was close to something they had experienced,” she said.
Ms. Samson played the character of a woman with Alzheimer’s disease, and was speaking on Saturday at SCARF’s (Schizophrenia Research Foundation) marking of World Alzheimer’s Day, which falls on September 21.
“Old age in itself is so humiliating in so many ways, but when Alzheimer’s is added to it, it becomes worse. Society, and sometimes even family turn against you. Love and sensitivity can go a long way in helping someone going through this terrible journey,” she said.
To increase awareness of dementia (Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia), SCARF has started DEMCARES or The Dementia Resource and Training Centre. An initiative under this, launched on Saturday, is a student volunteer programme, in which students establish relationships with persons with dementia and their families to provide companionship and support.
Eleven students of Women’s Christian College have currently signed up for the six-month programme.
The goal, said Sridhar Vaitheswaran, psychiatrist at SCARF and head of DEMCARES, is to reduce stigma and build dementia-friendly communities. “This would mean shops and markets having friendly customer service personnel, neighbours and friends becoming more aware of the condition and support people with it, involving people with dementia in community events, making emergency services more sensitive and raising awareness so people understand and appreciate the condition,” he said.
Often the hidden victims of dementia are the caregivers. Gomathi Radhakrishnan, whose mother-in-law was diagnosed early this year, described the constant helplessness families often feel when confronted with situations they do not know how to deal with. “We have been told that there may be a change in her behaviour every day and that we can never know what to expect,” she said, adding that DEMCARES, which has a family caregiver support group, had helped immensely.
The World Alzheimer Report 2015, ‘The Global Impact of Dementia: An analysis of prevalence, incidence, cost and trends’ states that there are currently 46.8 million people living with dementia the world over, and this is expected to rise to 74.7 million by 2030.
