Upon learning from the community: Surveying dementia awareness in South East Asian communities

Abstract

The Department of Health has highlighted the need to increase early diagnosis of dementia, increase the uptake of intervention following diagnosis, and reduce stigma of this debilitating condition (Department of Health, 2009). Further, previous authors have highlighted the need to deliver culturally tailored services (Giebel et al., 2014; Seabrooke & Milne, 2004). An opportunity arose to learn about the perspectives of dementia from a cross-section of the local Punjabi community who were attending a Dementia Information Group. Over a five-week programme, the authors conducted a short dementia survey to members of the local Punjabi community. Results indicate that respondents held some positive constructions of dementia and services, although some perspectives reflecting stigma and concerns about help-seeking were evident. Limitations of this study and recommendations for future research are briefly discussed.