Abstract
Research motivation: There is a growing realization that the care of older people with dementia makes enormous demands on those who provide care to them. For clinicians, focus is on the assessment of impairment in memory and other cognitive functions. But for public health specialists, it is the socio-behavioural and psychological disruption linked to dementia and the deficits in the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) that are more relevant. The public health concerns on dementia remain unanswered yet in India. Research design: A systematic review of the work involving studies across populations in India and other nations across the world was conducted, with the aim to arrive at highlighting the concern of public health on dementia in India. Main findings and implications: The fact that dementia is differentially distributed across populations underlie the need to understand the risks involved and the ways to control them. The public awareness about dementia in India is low. Awareness on Dementia needs to be generated based on risk assessment developed through population based studies conducted across populations. Media needs to play its role in this.