‘Donate a Memory’: Bengaluru-based Nightingales Medical Trust seeks vintage household items for India’s first integrated dementia care village

An old radio gathering dust in the attic, a hand-operated sewing machine, a brass utensil passed down through generations or a black-and-white television that no longer works could soon find a new purpose: helping a person living with dementia reconnect with cherished memories.

Bengaluru-based Nightingales Medical Trust has launched ‘Donate a Memory’, a public campaign inviting individuals and families to donate vintage household objects for Smriti Gram, an integrated dementia care village that the Trust is developing near Doddaballapur. 

Powerful memory cues

The Trust said familiar objects from earlier decades can serve as powerful memory cues for people with dementia, helping stimulate recognition, encourage conversations, reduce anxiety and improve emotional well-being.

Expected to become operational in September, the first phase of Smriti Gram will include a 100-bed residential facility for economically disadvantaged persons living with dementia, along with a training academy and a research and innovation hub. The project is envisioned as a model for person-centred dementia care in India.

As part of the initiative, the campus will feature Reminiscence Corners, Music Therapy Rooms, Art and Craft Studios, Sensory Spaces and Therapeutic Activity Areas, all designed around everyday objects that many older adults would have encountered throughout their lives.

Appeal for donations

The Trust is appealing for donations of items such as old radios, gramophones, black-and-white televisions, tape recorders, rotary telephones, hurricane lamps, traditional grinding stones, brass and copper utensils, firewood stoves, sewing machines, typewriters, wall clocks, calendars, traditional musical instruments and other household articles from past decades.

“Many of these objects may no longer have practical use in our homes, but for a person living with dementia they can become powerful memory triggers that evoke recognition, comfort and joy. Every donated object carries a story, and every story has the potential to reconnect someone with their past,” said S. Premkumar Raja, secretary and co-founder of Nightingales Medical Trust.

Evidence-based care

According to the Trust, Smriti Gram will bring together evidence-based clinical care, therapeutic environmental design, non-pharmacological interventions, rehabilitation, caregiver training and research under one campus. It also plans to integrate modern medicine with evidence-informed complementary therapies to improve the quality of life and preserve the dignity and independence of people living with dementia.

The Trust said the project is intended to become a national demonstration centre for dementia care, innovation and workforce training.

How to donate

Individuals, families, institutions and organisations interested in donating vintage or traditional items may email: contact@nightingaleseldercare.com or dial 080 42426565