There is a strong cultural emphasis on children to provide care for their elderly parents in India (Gupta, 2009). It has been reported that it is the women (wife, daughter, daughter-in-law) that predominantly take on primary caregiving roles (Shaji et al., 2003; Brinda et al., 2014). There is low awareness regarding dementia among family caregivers (ARDSI, 2010). For example, a qualitative study in South India conducted with caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease as part of the 10/66 research network demonstrated that the understanding of dementia and its causes is limited (Shaji et al., 2003). The authors also reported a tendency for caregivers to attribute dementia symptoms as “deliberate misbehaviour” (Shaji et al., 2003, pp.2).

References:

Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India. (2010). THE DEMENTIA INDIA REPORT 2010: Prevalence, impact, cost and services for dementia. New Dehli. Available from: https://www.mhinnovation.net/sites/default/files/downloads/innovation/reports/Dementia-India-Report.pdf

Brinda, E. M., Rajkumar, A. P., Enemark, U., Attermann, J., & Jacob, K. (2014). Cost and Burden of informal caregiving of dependent older people in a rural Indian community. BMC Health Services Research, 14(1), 207. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-14-207

Gupta, R. (2009). Systems Perspective: Understanding Care Giving of the Elderly in India. Health Care for Women International, 30(12), 1040–1054. https://doi.org/10.1080/07399330903199334

Shaji, K. S., Smitha, K., Lal, K. P., Prince, M. J. (2003). Caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease: a qualitative study from the Indian 10/66 Dementia Research Network. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 18(1), 1–6.