11/06/2025
This weekend at Round Table on Building India’s Dementia Care Workforce Ecosystem, an important conversation unfolded — one that may well shape the future of eldercare in India.
Organised by Dementia India Alliance in partnership with United Way Mumbai , and with significant representation from the Government, it brought together expert clinicians, policy advocates, caregiving professionals, NGOs, training institutions, and mental health practitioners — all united by a shared goal: to strengthen India’s response to dementia.
The statistics are sobering:
📊 Over 10 million Indians are currently living with dementia — a number set to double by 2050.
📊 By 2030, more than 8.8 million families will be navigating the medical, emotional, and caregiving challenges of dementia — most without structured support.
📊 Yet, caregiving remains “informal” — undervalued, unsupported, and largely invisible in national policy conversations.
At the Round Table, we acknowledged the uncomfortable truth: India does not yet have a formal dementia care workforce.
And mental health — particularly the psychological care of older adults — continues to be treated as secondary.
But change begins in rooms like this.
This wasn’t just another panel discussion — it was an invitation to co-create an ecosystem of skilled, trauma-informed, and certified care. From workforce gaps to caregiver burnout, we discussed not just the symptoms, but the structural solutions.
At TMECS, we have spent the past 11 years working at the intersection of Neuropsychology, Geropsychology, and mental health in ageing, our clinicawork has long reflected the need we now echo in policy spaces:
• Ageing is deeply psychological.
• Dementia care is not only medical — it is emotional, behavioural, and social
• Mental health support for older adults must be specialised, trauma-informed, and accessible.
While this Round Table was an important step, it cannot stand alone. We need sustained national-level initiatives — policies that invest in elder mental health, training pipelines, and caregiver well-being. The scale of India’s ageing population demands nothing less.
What gives us hope is knowing that we are not alone. There is a community of professionals, advocates, and changemakers ready to listen, collaborate, and lead.
This is how systems change begins.
From the margins to the centre. From discussion to design. From compassion to collective action.
Tanvi Mallya Dementia TLC Ankit Shah Dignity Foundation - Leading NGO for Senior Citizens Sailesh Mishra United Way
