The rising prevalence of dementia among South Asian individuals in the UK highlights the critical need for culturally sensitive interventions and support services.
South Asian dementia caregivers experience several barriers to accessing appropriate services, including limited awareness of dementia, stigma, and a lack of culturally tailored interventions. To address these challenges, we translated and culturally adapted the World Health Organization’s ‘iSupport’ intervention, for South Asian dementia caregivers in the UK who speak
Bengali, Punjabi and Urdu.
iSupport is an online self-guided programme for caregivers of people with dementia. We employed a codesign methodology, which involved discussions with dementia caregivers and health and social care professionals to guide the initial cultural adaptations, followed up by feedback on the adapted online platform from caregivers and professionals. Adaptations included clearly defining the role of a caregiver and recognising the impact of stigma. Culturally appropriate imagery and references to South Asian customs and
traditions were incorporated into case studies.
Additionally, an audio feature was implemented and summary posters for each module were created in all languages. iSupport and iSupport Lite for South Asian
dementia caregivers is now available in four languages (Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu, and English).