Vivek Kudva

About Me

I was a financial services professional for 35 years and am currently focused on philanthropic efforts in the area of dementia care. I chose this area due to my personal experiences in dealing with caregivers and my belief that India will require a large number of professional caregivers as we age. Much of the initial care will have to be provided at home by family caregivers and professional caregivers and I would like to ensure that they, as well as dementia patients, have a better overall experience.

At some point in life, most of us will either be caregivers or care receivers. We will all benefit from improvements in the dementia care ecosystem.

Appeal

In 2011, dementia became a very real part of our lives when my sister was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Since then, I have witnessed first-hand the impact it has on the lives of those affected as well as their families. The principal caregivers, often family members, mainly women, face significant emotional and physical strain, with many reporting health challenges of their own. Moreover, the professional caregiver ecosystem is also not that well-organised with most of them having little formal training in providing dementia care.

Dementia currently affects over 88 lakh older adults in India, with Alzheimer's and related conditions accounting for nearly 80% of cases. These numbers are projected to dramatically increase in the coming decades. The estimated prevalence rate for dementia is 7.4% among those over 60, and it is projected that by 2050, dementia will affect 25.67 million individuals in India.

Over the last couple of years I have focused on my philanthropic efforts on helping improve the dementia care ecosystem. I am partnering with United Way Mumbai in setting up a platform with the objective of enhancing the capacity and quality of dementia care. Under this, one of initiatives we are launching is a Caregiver Training Programme to provide essential skills and resources to professional caregivers. We believe this will help address one of the gaps in dementia care in our country.

I am personally committed to making this programme a reality and am seeking your support. For every contribution made, I will make a matching contribution until we reach our goal of training over 600 professional caregivers in the first year. Your contribution will go towards improving the skills of professional caregivers in dementia care through structured training programmes and support initiatives and will directly benefit those facing the daily challenges of dementia care. You can do your bit by clicking on the donate button.

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