The builder's path
For: Families in Mumbai caring for someone newly diagnosed with dementia can't find trained caregivers or a memory clinic close to home.
“Some things are under our control, while others are not under our control.”
Routes to a solution
Each route is a different kind of journey, with real people and organisations to contact at each step, starting with those in Maharashtra.
Step 1
Join an impact incubator
Shape a model that pays for itself without excluding the people who need it.
IIT Bombay's incubator for technology startups.
Incubator for social enterprises in health, agriculture and livelihoods.
Lab-to-market platform for science and technology aimed at social problems.
Patient capital and fellowships for enterprises serving low-income communities.
Step 2
Raise patient capital
Impact funds and fellowships for enterprises serving low-income communities.
Incubator for social enterprises in health, agriculture and livelihoods.
Lab-to-market platform for science and technology aimed at social problems.
Incubator and investor at IIM Ahmedabad, with impact programmes.
Patient capital and fellowships for enterprises serving low-income communities.
Ideas, sources and tools for this problem, from first interviews to funding.
The national ageing survey behind the dementia prevalence estimate.
Plain summary of dementia, care and support for carers.
Runs the only dedicated government memory clinic in Maharashtra and sees where families struggle after diagnosis.
Runs a dementia day care centre in Mahim and caregiver support groups and training.
National dementia organisation that supports people with dementia and their carers.
Starter prompt
Built from this problem's brief. Paste it into Claude or any AI assistant.
Help me design and build a first working prototype for this problem in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Problem: Families in Mumbai caring for someone newly diagnosed with dementia can't find trained caregivers or a memory clinic close to home. Who it hurts: Adult children and grandchildren in Mumbai and its suburbs looking after an older relative with dementia, often for the first time. The moment it hurts: The weeks after diagnosis, when the family needs a trained carer, therapy sessions and advice, and the only dedicated government memory clinic may be across the city. What people do today: Families ask agencies, friends and relatives; agencies often have no staff trained in dementia care, and regular therapy means repeated journeys across the city. Why it is still unsolved: Memory clinics, day care, therapists and trained carers are run by different hospitals, NGOs and agencies, there is no public list by area, and Maharashtra's district memory clinic OPDs are not listed by location. Unlike palliative care, dementia care is long, continuing and mostly at home. What solved looks like: A free directory for the Mumbai region, searchable by suburb, listing memory clinics, dementia day care, therapists and agencies with dementia-trained carers, with cost, languages and how to get a referral, plus a short guide for families in the first month after diagnosis. Where: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India First, list what you would need to learn from the people affected before building, as interview questions. Then propose the simplest version that would help, the screens or messages it needs, and the data it would use. Keep it cheap to run, accessible, and respectful of people's privacy. Flag anything you are unsure about instead of guessing.
Talk to the people who live it before you build.
“Knowledge itself is power.”
Ipsa scientia potestas est.
Get a working version in front of people fast.
Using AI is not cheating. Every tool carries the work of the people who made it, and using it well is how knowledge has always moved forward. The thinking, the care for the people who live the problem, and the judgement are still yours.
“The Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves.”
Open data that fits this problem.
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.”
Tools matched to what this problem needs.
“Tasks are achieved by effort, not by wishing.”
उद्यमेन हि सिध्यन्ति कार्याणि न मनोरथैः
udyamena hi sidhyanti kāryāṇi na manorathaiḥ
Ship it responsibly, and find help and funding.
“While we teach, we learn.”
Homines dum docent discunt.
Kit written for this problem from its brief; every link was checked. Links go to each provider's own site. Zetema is not paid for any listing.