MEDICINE

Study group on dementia

ASHA KRISHNAKUMAR

AN international group - 10/66 for Dementia - was formed recently by Dr. Martin Prince and Prof. John Copeland in collaboration with medical centres in various countries that study the effects of ageing.

Two groups of doctors, from the Schizophrenia Research Foundation, the Voluntary Health Services (VHS) and the Public Health Centre (PHC), all in Chennai, have been chosen to be a part of this group.

The first group is headed by Dr. Thara Srinivasan, a psychiatrist and director of the Schizophrenia Research Foundation.

The second, a joint venture between the departments of neurology at the VHS and the PHC will have Ravi Samuel, a psychiatric social worker, who is currently a Paul Hamlyn Fellow at the National Hospital, London, as convener. Ravi Samuel has received over all training in dementia care, cognitive behaviour therapy and so on. The supervisor of this group is Prof. Krishnamoorthy Srinivas, chairman of the departments of neurology at the VHS and the PHC.

The first 10/66 workshop was held by the group headed by Prof. Krishnamoorthy Srinivas in March. The second was held by the group headed by Dr. Thara Srinivasan in June.