Why dementia care is as much about the patient as about the caregiver

The narrow street in the busy South Delhi neighbourhood is quieter than you’d expect on a weekday morning. From premises attached to a building that houses an old-age home wafts Mohammed Rafi’s Huye hum jinke liye barbaad , from Dilip Kumar’s 1951 film Deedar .

A few senior citizens are sitting quietly, listening. All of them suffer from dementia, and this is their daily memory exercise. Some look blank, others show flashes of recognition from time to time, a couple of them appear to be humming along.

Kulbir (name changed) is nodding with the beat, her head down. Her caregiver periodically puts a hand on her shoulder. Kulbir raises her head in response, a smile on her face.

The touch is important, says Kulbir’s caregiver. It signals reassurance and comfort, calms and soothes a patie