Monthly Caregivers meeting



The monthly caregiver's meeting was held on Saturday, 20th April 2013 from 2 pm IST to 4:00 pm IST, at The ARDSI Activity Center, Plot No -451, Road No-86, Jubilee Hills.

The audience comprised caregivers, family members and volunteers. The session started with a brief introduction of the speakers invited for the sessions.
Day's schedule:

2:00 pm IST to 2:10 pm IST
Brief Introduction of Medstar – Startup Tertiary Health Services at Doorstep for Chronically Ill Patients

2:15 pm IST to 3:00 pm IST
Topic 1: How to handle and address legal issues faced by persons with dementia and their families.

3:00 pm IST to 3:45 pm IST
Topic 2: Insurance matters and issues for persons with dementia and their families.

The day got off to a start with a brief presentation by Mr Chandrakiran Mallarapu – Founder and CEO of Medstar. A startup company focused on assisting chronic patients with various products and services at the doorstep. MedStar is promoted by IIT Alumni, supported by prominent doctors and investors from Hyderabad Angels and Singapore.

Session 1:
Advocate A P Venugopal, a practicing advocate from the AP High Court and an avid supporter of ARDSI Hyderabad Deccan Chapter, spoke on the topic the "How to handle and address legal issues faced by persons with dementia and their families".

Mr Venugopal stressed on the importance of maintaining proper records at all time with respect to estate / properties, will and legal heirs among others. He explained about the benefits of registration of a Will. He suggested family members / care-givers to maintain a monthly record of the psychological condition of the patient using the services of a neurologist / psychiatrist. This record would be useful while entering into any unforeseen legal arrangements.

He also suggested that the caregiver(s) note down important bits of information pertaining to the patient's financial assets as and when he / she mentions it. This would help create a database that the family could refer to in the event the person is unable to remember at a later point of time.

He concluded his talk by fielding questions from the audience.

Session 2:
The second session of the day was handled by Mr. V V R Murthy of New India Assurance and a life insurance advisor. The topic was "Insurance matters and issues for persons with dementia and their families".

Mr Murthy advised all families / care-givers to take a health policy irrespective of whether it was provided by the employer or not, He stressed on the rising cost of healthcare and especially in chronic conditions associated with long-term health care related expenses, such a situation could be mitigated by holding a cashless health policy preferably from PSU service providers such as New India Assurance or LIC.
He advised it is always better to avail health insurance cover well in advance (at a younger age) and not only when there was an illness. He advised against withholding health information from the insuring company, as it could result in non-settlement of claims due to the exclusion principle and pre-existing diseases clause.

Mr Murthy also addressed issues such as what to do in the event a patient has forgotten about the policies he/she holds or where the family did not know about it initially and such a policy had therefore lapsed, possibility of revival of policy, etc.

The program ended with a general discussion and exchange of ideas among all the participants and speakers.

 

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