Article The support needs of family caregivers of persons with dementia in India: Implications for health services Neha Lamech Schizophrenia Research Foundation, India Shruti Raghuraman University of Nottingham School of Health Sciences, UK Sridhar Vaitheswaran and Thara Rangaswamy Schizophrenia Research Foundation, India Abstract The World Alzheimer’s Report estimates that 4.1 million people in India have dementia. Caregivers of persons with dementia face physical, psychological, social and financial problems related to caring for a person with dementia. Literature on the caregiving experience however is highly specific to the sociocultural context and cannot be generalized. In low and middle income countries much of the caregiving takes place in people’s homes and is provided by family caregivers. Aim This study aims to explore the needs and challenges of family caregivers in Chennai, India. Method Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted using a topic guide. Participants were divided based on socio-economic status to ensure homogeneity. An inductive thematic approach was used to analyse and code the data. A total of 19 participants took part in the study. Corresponding author: Sridhar Vaitheswaran, Schizophrenia Research Foundation, R 7/A, North Main Road, Anna Nagar West Extension, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600101, India. Email: sridhar.v@scarfindia.org Dementia 0(0) 1–14 ! The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1471301217744613 journals.sagepub.com/home/dem