Aging & Social Change: Tenth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

Caregiving for persons with dementia has been described as an unplanned and unexpected ‘career’ that family members take on rarely prepared. The significant role of socio-cultural and religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices has become evident in relation to caregiving choices, sense-making, and coping mechanisms. Yet little is known the experiences of informal caregiving for persons with dementia in the context of the Arab and Muslim region, and similarly older persons with mental illness. This paper examines the extent to which sociocultural and religious factors influence how informal caregivers (families) experience, cope with, and respond to dementia. Drawing upon interviews with 38 family members caring for elderly with Dementia in the state of Qatar, interviews with key stakeholders at policy and institutional level, and a desk review the study identifies five main factors that affect families’ caregiving experiences: nuclear and extended family dynamics and structures, socio-religious perceptions of the elderly and cognitive disease, social stigma and societal standing of the elderly, level of knowledge about the disease, and the perceived positive rewards that underpin sustained care and coping. The authors call for more social awareness campaigns to reframe and destigmatize dementia and mental illness, and efforts to ensure that services are culturally appropriate and hence better utilized.