General Awareness Programme at NIZAM COLLEGE, Basheer Bagh



Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI) – Hyderabad Deccan Chapter organized "General Public Awareness Program On What is Dementia" on Wednesday 25th September, 2013 at 11am at NIZAM college, Basheer Bagh.

The session was attended by about 200 students belonging to the department of Zoology, Psychology and others and was facilitated by Dr. Priya Kumari Assistant professor, Dept.of Zoology NIZAMS College. The program was also graced by the presence of Nizam college principal Mr.T.L.N.swamy, Vice-Principal Prof.Veerabadram, Director of Students Welfare- Mr.Avinash Jaiswal and Ms.Shailaja, Assistant Professor Dept. of Zoology.

The bi-lingual session commenced with Ms. Balatripurasundari , Joint Secretary, ARDSI Hyderbad Deccan giving an introduction to the students about the brain and the phenomenon of recollection. After that Ms. Bala screened a 3-minute movie named "What is Alzheimer's disease"? to the audience. Then the students were given examples related to their own lives to explain concepts like forgetfulness as a result of stress, the importance of right nutrition in aiding a healthy memory, the effects of head injury on the brain and temporary and permanent forgetting.

After the introduction on memory and forgetting, the students were told about the different kinds of dementia and their symptoms and causes. They were explained in brief the process of psychological and medical assessments for diagnosing dementia in a person.

The students were then briefed about ARDSI and given information on its purpose and the different support services such as Activity Center, Home Visits, Awareness, Training, Education etc. by ARDSI. The students were shown a video called 'My Name is Britney' to elaborate on the emotionally debilitating effect of Dementia. The students were then given tips on what they should do if they had an elderly person showing signs of Dementia either in their home or in their neighborhood.

The session ended with a quiz on Dementia in which the students were asked questions pertaining to what had been covered in the session. The students and faculty seemed keen and actively participated in the session by answering questions. The winners were awarded ARDSI souvenirs and chocolates as prizes. The session ended with a brief photo session of all the quiz winners and vote of thanks by Dr.Priya Kumari and Ms.Shailaja.

In all, the session was an interactive, high-energy one, with the facilitators delivering the information in a manner that was both interesting and comprehendible by the Students and Faculty. The youngsters in turn seemed to leave with a deeper understanding and sensitivity to the issue.

 

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