Dementia — the loss of cognitive functioning, including memory, language, and reasoning — is a growing worry globally. In India, an estimated 7.4 per cent or 8.8 million adults aged over 60 live with dementia.
With little medical help at hand beyond sedatives, caregiving can be emotionally and physically challenging for loved ones.
Kochi-based start-up Easedementia offers structured assistance to help improve cognitive stimulation in those living with dementia.
The platform — founded in 2022 by Pynadath Jose Jolly, Sienna Sen, Snijo PJ and Amrutha P Varghese — provides personalised care through a six-part non-pharmacological module — cognitive training, culinary spread, physical exercise, recreational activities, sensory stimulation, and social stimulation.
Handholding families
Post an assessment of the condition, a care plan is prepared for each individual and a specialist assigned to provide home-based care. The company also provides psychoeducation — a combination of cognitive-behaviour therapy, group therapy, and education — to the families to help them navigate the treatment journey.
“With this structured treatment, cognitive impairment can be delayed, as per WHO. Patients who have taken our professional care services have seen improvement in their cognitive capacities. On the international scale of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), 3-5 points of improvement have been seen,” Jolly says.
Care beyond home
The start-up charges ₹500 per hour for its services. Easedementia has partnered with 50 neurologists and paediatricians in Kerala to collaborate on the treatment. Currently it has 50 clients across Kerala and Delhi, and 15 specialist caregiving practitioners on its rolls.
It plans to collaborate with more doctors and other specialists, and open experience centres to provide care outside the home as well. The bootstrapped start-up is now looking to raise a ₹2-crore seed round to scale up its services.
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