Dementia Caregiver Resources across India

Resources for dementia and care > Dementia Caregiver Resources across India
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This page attempts to provide a consolidated list of dementia caregiver resources in India. In case you know of any other resource, or of any error on this page, please let us know by contacting us. [read disclaimer.]

Information specific to various cities/ states is available on the city-wise/ region-wise resource page here. [View page with informational websites on dementia / caregiving].

ARDSI (Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India).

ARDSI (Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India) is the national body for dementia in India, and the Indian member organization in the international body for dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI). Their website is ardsi.org Opens in new window. Their Facebook presence is at ARDSI National Office FB page Opens in new window. The ARDSI national office is at Delhi.

ARDSI is involved in dementia and caregiving awareness activities, developing services, training family members and professionals, and undertaking research.  ARDSI runs helplines to provide information on Alzheimer’s and caregiving and also provides information for research studies on dementia. The Dementia India report 2010 was released in September 2010, and the Dementia India Strategy 2018 in September 2018. ARDSI, along with its chapters, also holds conferences on dementia.

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ARDSI Chapters in various cities of India.

ARDSI has chapters in various cities, and these provide various dementia-related services. Examples of what may be available (these differ by chapter) are memory clinic, caregiver support groups, home visits for assessment, caregiver training for home carers and professional carers, day care centres, counseling, and helplines. The chapters may also publicize dementia through awareness programs, functions for the World Alzheimer’s Day, and other events. Some ARDSI chapters maintain websites, though these may not provide up-to-date information on events, activities, and services. Some chapters actively offer support, services, training, and so on, while others are not active, though they may help if contacted. It is best to contact the organizations by phone/ email to get the latest news.

Some ARDSI chapters are run in coordination with or managed by well-known hospitals of the city, or by major elder care service organizations. For example, ARDSI Bangalore is associated with Nightingales Medical Trust, Bangalore.

Information on chapters is available on the respective city pages at city-wise/ region-wise dementia resources pages.

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Dignity Foundation.

Dignity Foundation works in the general area of senior care, and has a presence in some cities for senior care and community. They have a senior citizen helpline at 18002678780 and provide a number of services for elders. Dignity also has some dementia day care centres in some cities and an assisted care facility for people with dementia as well as other senior citizens with disability in Neral. Contact information for local Dignity branches and dementia services can be seen on the city/ region specific pages listed on our city-wise/ region-wise dementia resource pages.

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Helpage India.

Helpage India works in the area of elders. It focuses on fighting isolation, poverty, and neglect, and supports many initiatives for elders., such as their Geriatric Physiotherapy clinics which is available in some cities Opens in new window. Their work may also include projects relevant for dementia. The Helpage India website Opens in new window contains information on their projects and also may have useful downloads like old age home directories. The site gives contact information for its national office and its various branches. The Helpage toll-free helpline number is 1800-180-1253 or you can contact Helpage in your city using the contact information on their site.

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Dementia day care, respite care and long-term care.

India has very few day care centers and full-time care facilities suitable for dementia compared to the number of persons with dementia in India, and these few are almost all in metros. However, this number is increasing slowly. Some places are designed specifically to support persons with dementia (either only for persons with dementia or for elders with special needs including elders with dementia). Some places accept persons with dementia even though it is not stated as such in their brochures/ websites. Some places have expanded to include dementia because the elders they were already serving have developed dementia, or to cater to the repeated requests. For example, some residential facilities now accept persons with dementia for stay, rehabilitation, assisted living, extended hospital care, etc. There are also some places that claim to support dementia though they don’t have trained staff or infrastructure or experts.

DAY CARE CENTRES: There are some day cares/ “active ageing” centres in India that accept persons with dementia. Some are exclusively for persons with dementia, some have a mixed profile. Day cares vary in their capacity, charges, whether they provide transport and food, etc.

FULL-TIME CARE CENTRES: Some full-time care centres in India accept persons with dementia. Full time care homes vary widely in capacity. Costs range from free and for destitute persons picked up from streets to mid-range places and to places costing well over a lakh rupees a month. They may accept only dementia persons, dementia and other neuro/ psychiatrist problems, or mixed profiles (normal elders, elders who need help with ADL, elders with dementia, etc.). Some are assisted living designed mainly for early/ mid-stage persons, while others are fully equipped for terminal care and placed within the premises of hospitals. Some have multiple types of rooms (single occupant, twin sharing, or dorms with 7-8 persons). Typically, places accept residents for both short and long stay.

Whenever considering a day care or full-time care (short term or long term), it is essential to do proper evaluation for any place for suitability, reliability, etc. Suggestions for this are available at Using various dementia/ home care services.

Data available with us on such facilities and other dementia/ care resources is collated on pages listed on the City-wise/ region-wise dementia care information page. The various pages available with detailed resource information are:

Note that facilities keep getting added/ closed down for various reasons and availability also changed because of problems many faced during the pandemic and lockdown etc. Our data may be incomplete/ outdated. Also, quality of the listed places may improve or deteriorate with time. Always contact the place directly and evaluate it for suitability and reliability. Note that any information provided on any resource is only for convenience and is not an endorsement of any kind. Also, please send in information of changes that you know about, so that the data can be updated.

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Dementia Helplines.

Tele counselling helpline for mental health, Tele-MANAS: Toll-free, 24/7 helpline number 14416 or 1-800-91-4416, is also usable for dementia, is managed by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, and available in many languages.

ARDSI NATIONAL has a helpline: 098461 98471 | 098461 98473 | info@ardsi.org . Many ARDSI chapters and dementia organizations also list helplines. Some such helplines provide information on dementia and answer queries related to dementia and care, but most focus on information on the dementia services and facilities by the organization running the helpline, or are used for fixing an appointment for more detailed consultation. If you are looking for information on dementia and care, please see this website. Also, you can use our city-wise/ region-wise dementia resource pages and contact individual entities listed there. Larger entities are more likely to help with general information on dementia.

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Elder Helplines.

A National Helpline for Senior Citizens has been made available by the Central Govt (Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment) on Oct 1, 2021, and is connected to relevant departments in various states. It is operational in many states, and others are soon expected to make it operational. This Seniors Helpline is toll-free and available at 14567 , all 7 days a week, 8 am to 8 pm.

Some cities also run Elders Helpline/ Senior Citizens’ Helpline, often a cooperation between some NGO working for elder welfare, and the police department. These helplines can be used to report abuse of elders, or assist elders in various ways, as well as get information on legal and other issues that relate to elders. They may provide information on day care facilities, respite care, home nursing facilities, services that provide attendants and nurses, and old age homes. (See also section on Helpage and section on Dignity on this page).

Also check the links on our city-wise/ region-wise dementia resource pages for elder helplines of the respective city pages.

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Helplines when distressed/ depressed.

Here are some resources (helplines/ email ids) of organizations that provide help to persons who may be depressed/ distressed.

Please contact a helpline when you feel overwhelmed, and do not postpone this contacting till you are utterly desperate. If you can’t get through to a helpline, please try another helpline or try after some time. Helplines sometimes have poorer responses because of problems in funding/ volunteer availability, so please don’t give up!!

The list below is an alphabetically arranged selection of what seem to be more active helplines; however, to emphasize again, you may need to try multiple options to reach one that works for you. Helplines are typically designed to ensure confidential and provide anonymity, but please confirm this with them before talking. Suggestions and feedback are welcome.

Aasra has a 24×7 helpline at 91-9820466726 . Email: aasrahelpline@yahoo.com. Site: aasra.info Opens in new window. Facebook page here Opens in new window.

COOJ Mental Health Foundation, a Goa initiative. Call their distress helpline: +91 832 225 2525, 1 to 7 pm, Monday to Friday. Website: cooj.co.in Opens in new window Facebook page Opens in new window. E-counselling email: youmatterbycooj@gmail.com.

Hitguj (BMC) is Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation initiative, see some 2020 coverage here Opens in new window. (current state of project not known). Call 022-2413-1212, 24 x 7. Website: hitgujhelpline.wordpress.com .

iCall (TISS) is run by TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences). Call: (022)- 2552-1111, 8 AM to 10 PM, Monday to Saturday. Email: icall@tiss.edu, Site: icallhelpline.org Their Facebook page Opens in new window. A resource to help people find counselors in India along with information on each counselor, created as part of a crowd-sourcing initiative by iCall, can be viewed at iCALL’s crowdsourced list of Mental Health Professionals We Can TrustOpens in new window.

Samaritans Helpline (The Samaritan Facebook page Opens in new window) lists its helplines as +91 8422984528/ +91 8422984529/ +91 8422984530, 3 PM to 9 PM, all days. Email: talk2samaritans@gmail.com , Website samaritansmumbai.org Opens in new window.

Sumaitri is a Delhi-based crisis intervention center for depression. Call: 011-46018404 or +91-9315767849 12:30 PM to 6:00 PM 7 Days a Week Facebook page Opens in new window Email: feelingsuicidal@sumaitri.net, Site: sumaitri.net Opens in new window.

Tele-MANAS: This is an initiative of Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and was launched in Oct 2022. A toll-free, 24/7 helpline number (14416) has been set up across the country allowing callers to select the language of choice for availing services. Service is also accessible with 1-800-91-4416. The calls would be routed to Tele-MANAS cells in the respective state and union territory. The announcement can be seen here Opens in new window.

Vandrevala Foundation Helpline is a 24 x 7 hour helpline for emergencies. Call or Whatsapp: 9999-666-555. Email: help@vandrevalafoundation.com (email response time may be higher) , Site: vandrevalafoundation.com Opens in new window.

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Palliative Care resources.

Palliative care is very relevant for dementia care, especially when patients approach the end-of-life stage,  and caregivers may need to evaluate options and make decisions, and need support from professionals who understand palliative care. Some organizations support palliative care through their services and also online resources and directories. Also, some other organizations, like hospitals and other service providers, integrate palliative care concepts in their work. For a discussion on palliative care in the context of dementia, and for data on organizations that may be relevant, check the palliative care resources on this page.

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Other India-based resources, blogs and communities.

There are also some India-based resources that are predominantly online; these include websites and communities around dementia and/ or caregiving. See our page on online resources for these: : Informational websites on dementia / caregiving.

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Other Resources (Online).

In this Internet age, international online resources and forums on dementia and related care are accessible from anywhere in the world. Family caregivers and other concerned persons in India can use these to learn more about dementia and care, and to read about and share caregiver stories. Click here to get data on International/ online resources: Informational websites on dementia / caregiving.

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For city-specific resources, check this page: City-wise/ region-wise resources.

For selected online resources (Indian and international), check this page: Informational websites on dementia / caregiving.

For dementia and care related information in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, check the links on this page: Dementia/ Alzheimer’s Information in Indian Languages. Also see our video resources page for links to videos in Indian languages.

Disclaimer: The resources/ links provided here are intended for information and convenience, and are not in any way intended to be an endorsement for the resource. Also, facilities offered keep changing, so please contact the organizations to get up-to-date information.

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Dementia Care Notes