Transforming Dementia Care in India

India’s demographic transition, characterized by a rapidly aging population that is projected to reach 340 million older adults aged 60 and above by 2050, has precipitated a public health crisis in dementia care. With 5.3 million cases reported in 2020, dementia has emerged as a leading cause of disability among neuropsychiatric conditions, exacerbated by systemic challenges such as diagnostic inefficiencies, sociocultural stigma, and acute shortages of trained specialists, evidenced by a mere 0.75 psychiatrists per 100,000 population. This chapter examines the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital health technologies in mitigating these gaps. AI-driven innovations, including speech pattern analysis and wearable sensor-based gait monitoring, demonstrate high diagnostic accuracy for early cognitive decline, while telemedicine platforms expand access to specialist care in underserved rural regions. Adaptive virtual reality (VR) modules and multilingual chatbots further offer scalable solutions for cognitive rehabilitation and caregiver support, addressing the disproportionate burden shouldered by families, who provide 89% of dementia care. However, implementation barriers persist, including infrastructural limitations, algorithmic biases in linguistically diverse contexts, and low digital literacy among the older adult populations. The authors propose a tiered, integrative care model that unifies AI tools with India’s familial care ethos, leveraging community health workers for frontline screening and telemedicine for specialist triage. Policy implications include ethical AI governance frameworks, public–private partnerships for resource mobilization, and workforce capacity-building initiatives. By harmonizing technological innovation with sociocultural sensitivity, this model presents a replicable paradigm for dementia care in resource-constrained settings globally, balancing clinical efficacy with human dignity.