She also set up the first neurorehabilitation services for Traumatic Brain Injury in Mumbai and worked as a research consultant in a NIH Indo-US project on ‘Cognitive Changes in the Elderly’.

Title: ‘Family Matters’ in Neuropychological Rehabilitation in India.

India is undergoing an economic and epidemiological transition. Life style changes, increased longevity and decreased mortality have resulted in an exponential increase in stroke, dementia and TBI populations, with neurological disability emerging as a hidden epidemic in the country.Since there are only a few trained professionals, the overburdened centres are unable to meet the increasing demands for neuropsychological rehabilitation services. Hence, family-centred, home-based rehabilitation is now being considered as a major alternative model of care in India.The collectivistic culture of India fosters interdependence and the family is a very important institution, wherein the individual prioritises the needs of the family over personal decisions and choices.In neuropsychological rehabilitation, besides the expert management of complex cognitive, mood and behaviour issues by trained professionals, there are a number of personal factors including motivation of the client that are key ingredients for successful rehabilitation. These personal factors are dependent on a number of diverse, culture specific, family determined issues.In a globally connected world, in order to engage effectively with clients from different parts of the world, it has now become important to understand the cultural compulsions of a client and the family that can act both, as therapeutic tools or barriers, to facilitate or hinder rehabilitation.This presentation explores the cultural issues from the Indian perspective to understand the role of the family in neuropsychological rehabilitation with data drawn from experience of over two decades with families of people with Epilepsy, Parkinson’s Disease and Dementia.