LIVING WITH DEMENTIA IN INDIA: A Practical and Compassionate Guide for Families and Carers

When Mummy asks the same question for the tenth time, what should you say?
What do you do when Papa becomes angry for no apparent reason? When he insists he wants to go home—although he is already home? When Mummy refuses to bathe, stops eating, wanders at night or no longer recognises you?
And who looks after you, when caring becomes exhausting?

Living with Dementia in India is a practical and compassionate guide for families trying to answer these questions every day.
Written specifically with Indian families and home-based care in mind, it recognises a reality often missing from conventional dementia books: ageing parents may live with their children; care may fall mainly upon one daughter, son or daughter-in-law; a home helper may have little or no dementia training; and children living in Britain, America, Canada, Australia or the Gulf may be trying to care for Mummy or Papa from thousands of miles away.

This is not a medical textbook.
It is a book to keep nearby and open when you need it.
Through simple language, familiar situations, practical checklists and short aide-mémoires, it helps families understand why behaviour changes and what they can do about it.

At its heart is one simple approach:
STOP → LOOK → ASK WHY → RESPOND

Before arguing, correcting or becoming frustrated, ask what the person may be trying to communicate.
Could it be fear? Pain? Confusion? Hunger? Constipation? Tiredness? Loneliness? An unfamiliar environment? Or simply a damaged brain trying to make sense of the world?

Inside you will find practical guidance on:

• repetition, anger, suspicion, hallucinations and wandering;
• bathing, dressing, toileting and preserving dignity;
• food, drinking, swallowing and weight loss;
• sleep and the exhausted household;
• falls, medicines, delirium and hospital admission;
• keeping someone safely and meaningfully at home;
• teaching an inexperienced home helper the basics of dementia care;
• supporting the family carer before exhaustion becomes collapse;
• relationships, affection, loneliness and maintaining purpose;
• NRI children caring for ageing parents from overseas;
• money, land, property, jewellery and planning ahead;
• advanced dementia and recognising when the aim of care begins to change;
• comfort, dying, grief, guilt and life after caring.

Above all, this book asks families to remember one thing:
The person with dementia is still a person.
They may forget your name.
They may forget what happened yesterday.
They may ask the same question repeatedly.
But they can still experience reassurance, fear, pleasure, loneliness, affection, discomfort and love.

Dementia changes memory. It should never take away dignity.
Living with Dementia in India is for husbands and wives, sons and daughters, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, home helpers and families overseas—for anyone who has ever looked at someone they love and wondered:
“What should I do now?”