The Status and Well-Being of Elderly Women Suffering from Dementia: Case Studies from Bengaluru

Abstract

Dementia, generally predominant among the elderly, is associated with the progressive degeneration in memory, thinking, and reduced ability to perform everyday activities. The impairment in cognitive function is commonly accompanied and occasionally preceded by deterioration in emotional control, social behavior, and motivation. As per the 2018 data, there are about 50 million people worldwide are living with dementia. The World Alzheimer’s Report (2009) focuses on the global prevalence of dementia, its impact, and how it can be brought from recognition to action. Dementia patients were 35.6 million in 2010. The number will be doubling every 20 years, to 65.7 million in 2030 and 115.4 million in 2050. Of the people who have dementia worldwide, 58% live in low- and middle-income countries, which will rise to 71% by 2050. According to the Dementia India Report 2010, the prevalence of dementia is seen more among older women than older men. In India, the lack of a state-sponsored well-defined social support system has made family the central focus of care networks where women play the primary caregiver’s role. However, changing family structure with increasing nuclearization, women’s education, and subsequent professional career, the available expensive private institutional care has thrown many challenges before the critical care system and pushes women with dementia more vulnerable in terms of their need for care and their dependent status in a patriarchal societal setup. Thus, it is necessary for us to address the preventive measures and affordable home-based care for the well-being of women who have dementia. Following the Geronto-Feminist theoretical perspectives and ethnographic method, the present paper focuses on the burden of care and affordable home-based care for older women with dementia. The research includes participant observation, case study, and in-depth interview (IDI) of experts from various fields (e.g., yoga, psychiatrist, nutrition, and ayurveda) as tools to propose an affordable care model.