Caregiver Role and Status in India

"Many people assume that India, with its allegedly strong familial systems and respect for elders, would be effective in caring for dementia patients. This may be wishful thinking.

Poor awareness of dementia affects the way care is perceived and given for the patients. While dementia is different from ageing, people who are not aware of dementia assume it to be the same as ageing.

A recent study on effectiveness of supporting home-care through interventions has been published by Amit Dias: The Effectiveness of a Home Care Program for Supporting Caregivers of Persons with Dementia in Developing Countries: A Randomised Controlled Trial from Goa, India. The interventions were basic education about dementia, education about common behaviour problems and how they can be managed, support to the caregiver (for example helping elderly caregivers with the patient’s activities of daily living), referral to medical professionals for severe behaviour problems, networking of families to enable the formation of support groups, and advice regarding existing government schemes for elders.

The study concludes:

Home based support for caregivers of persons with dementia, which emphasizes the use of locally available, low-cost human resources, is feasible, acceptable and leads to significant improvements in caregiver mental health and burden of caring".

to know more :

http://dementia-care-notes.in/dementia/dementia-and-caregiving-in-india/