Geriatric Clinic & Services

Geriatric Clinic & Services

ABOUT GERIATRIC UNIT:

Geriatric Clinic and Services was initially started as a once weekly specialty clinic in 1999 under the Department of Psychiatry in the context of the growing need for specialized clinical care, research and human resource development in the field of cognitive and psychological disorders affecting the elderly.

The Geriatric Clinic & Services has currently grown in to a full-time unit since 2017 with dedicated outpatient and inpatient services provided by multi-disciplinary team of experts. The first contact outpatient services are available every day and regular OPD services are 3 days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday (except 2nd Saturday) for patients already registered under Geriatric Clinic and Services. This service provides comprehensive clinical care for older adults (age 60 years and above) with any neuropsychiatric problem (Eg. Memory / cognitive impairment, dementia, depression, anxiety, psychosis, sleep disorders etc) and those with cognitive impairment & dementia of any age group.

ACADEMICS and COURSES OFFERED

The Geriatric clinic and services is providing super specialty training (DM and other fellowship Courses in Geriatric Psychiatry and allied disciplines) to develop the specialized human resources in this field. The post-doctoral fellowship (PDF) course in geriatric psychiatry was started in the year 2014 and  the DM course in Geriatric Psychiatry was started from 2017.

  • DM in Geriatric Psychiatry (2 seats): Three years
  • Post-doctoral fellow (PDF) in Geriatric Psychiatry (1 seat): One year
  • Fellow in Geriatric Mental Health care (1 seat): One year
  • Fellowship in Psycho-social care for elderly (1 seat): One year
  • Fellowship in Geriatric Mental Health Nursing (2 seats): One year

(for more details, please refer to ‘Current Prospectus).

MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAM

The multi-disciplinary care for elderly with Neuropsychiatric disorders and other activities (training, research and public health promotion in community) of the unit is actively supported by the intramural and extramural collaboration with many other departments having expertise in this field. The departments include Neurology, Psychiatric Social Work, Clinical Psychology, Neuropsychology Unit, Centre for Public Health and Nursing at NIMHANS have contributed significantly in the clinical services and community based activities of the Geriatric Clinic and Services. We are in the process of establishing partnerships with many other departments and organizations (Governmental as well as Non-Governmental) to improve the clinical services, training and research in this field.

The multidisciplinary team is listed below

Geriatric Psychiatry Unit, Department of Psychiatry

  • Faculty within Unit
    • Dr. Mathew Varghese, Senior Professor and Head of the Unit
    • Dr. P.T. Sivakumar, Professor
    • Dr. Preeti Sinha, Additional Professor
  • Faculty from other Psychiatry Units
    • Dr. Krishna Prasad M., Additional Professor, Psychiatry Rehabilitation
    • Dr. Ajit Dahale, Associate Professor, Adult Unit-3
    • Dr. Santosh Loganathan, Adult Unit-3
  • Senior Residents
    • Dr. Shiva Shanker Reddy Mukku
    • Dr. Migita D’ Cruz
    • Dr. Debanjan Banerjee
    • Dr. Thomas Gregor Issac
    • Dr. Gargi Mondal
    • Dr. Prateek Varshney
  • Fellow in Psychosocial Care for elderly
    • Edlina Kerketta
    • Ashok Kumar

Department of Clinical Psychology

  • Faculty
    • Dr. Keshav Kumar, Professor, Neuropsychology Unit
    • Dr. M.P. Sharma, Professor, Behaviour Therapy Unit
    • Dr. Jyotsna Agarwal, Associate Professor, Adult Unit-3

Department of Epidemiology

  • Faculty
    • Dr. Girish N. Rao, Professor and Head

Department of Integrative Medicine

  • Faculty
    • Dr. Shivarama Varambally, Professor and Head
    • Dr. Kishore Kumar R. Assistant Professor
    • Dr. Hemant Bhargav, Assistant Professor

Department of Mental Health Education

  • Faculty
    • Dr. K.S. Meena, Additional Professor and Head
    • Dr. Latha K, Assistant Professor

Department of Nursing

  • Faculty
    • Dr. Sailaxmi Gandhi, Additional Professor and Head

Department of Psychiatric Social Work

  • Faculty
    • Dr. A. Thirumoorthy, Professor
    • Dr. Sojan Antony, Associate Professor
  • Ph.D. Scholar
    • Ms. Cicil Vasanthra
    • Ms. Anu K. Unni
    • Ms. Aleena Mathai

Services provided

  • Screening, evaluation & management, for various Neuropsychiatric problems in the elderly like memory loss / cognitive decline, dementia, depression and other mental health problems. This is provided through
    • Out-patient {OP} consultation
    • In-patient treatment
    • Tele-medicine consultation
    • Home based evaluation
  • Individual and group counselling
  • Neuropsychological assessment and cognitive training for elderly 
  • Support groups for care-givers of persons with dementia
  • Liaison with other agencies who are involved in care for elderly
  • Out-reach services
    • Sensitization and training of the primary care physicians
    • Training of lay counsellors and volunteers
    • Training of geriatric caregivers
    • Programs with various Senior Citizen Forums for positive and healthy ageing
    • Visits and training at Old Age Homes
    • Home visits in selected cases

In 2020, we have launched “Vayomanasa Sanjeevani” to include all out-reach services with its enhancement through the web based services and coordination with clinical services; the goal being to promote mental health and well-being to all older adults. For more information, please visit www.vmsnimhans.in

Contact details:

[Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday (except 2nd Saturday)]

G-13 block, Ground floor, OPD Block, NIMHANS,

Hosur Road, Bangalore 560029.

Phone: 96064 31873

Email: vms.nimhans@gmail.com