The phone call comes on a Tuesday morning — or maybe a Sunday night, depending on which time zone you're in. Your sibling in Delhi tells you that Maa has been wandering at night, that she forgot Papa's name last week, that the neurologist has said the word you were dreading: Alzheimer's. And suddenly, from Frankfurt or Houston or Dubai or London, you are trying to make one of the most consequential decisions of your family's life without being in the room. The guilt is immediate. So is the confusion. You don't know which facilities are real, which are safe, and which are simply well-photographed buildings with a nice website.
This guide is for you.
Memory care in India is still a developing specialty. That's not a criticism — it's a reality you need to understand before you start making calls. Good dementia care in a Delhi facility means a few specific things: structured daily routines that reduce disorientation, staff who are trained to redirect rather than restrain when a resident becomes agitated, secure premises so a resident who wanders cannot leave unsupervised, and a proper nutrition and hydration protocol because people with Alzheimer's frequently forget to eat or lose the ability to ask for water.
What to avoid is equally important. Be cautious of facilities where memory care is simply a wing of a general old age home with no differentiated staffing or protocol. Watch out for places that rely heavily on sedation to manage behavioural symptoms — it is common, and it is harmful. Avoid any facility where you cannot get a named, accountable person on the phone who can tell you what happened with your parent on a specific day.
In Delhi, facilities that have built genuine dementia-specific capabilities include The Second Inning Home, which has a dedicated Alzheimer's and dementia care program, Tapasya Retirement Home, Silver Lining Old Age Home, Gracias Living, and the Senior Citizen's Home in Gurgaon. These are not identical in their approach or quality — which is exactly why you need to ask the right questions before deciding.
First, ask specifically how many staff members are on the memory care floor at night, and what their training background is. Night hours are when most wandering and confusion incidents happen. A facility that cannot answer this precisely is telling you something.
Second, ask what their protocol is when a resident becomes physically resistant — during bathing, dressing, or meals. The answer reveals whether they have real dementia training or whether they're improvising.
Third, ask whether they have a relationship with a consulting neurologist, and how often that neurologist visits. Delhi has strong neurology resources — AIIMS, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, and Max Hospital all have neurologists with dementia specialisation. A good facility will have an established referral channel, not just a vague promise to "coordinate with your family doctor."
Fourth, and this one is specifically for NRI families: ask how they communicate with overseas family members. Ask for examples. Ask how they handle a situation where the family is asleep in a different time zone and something happens at 3 a.m. in Delhi.
In the early stages, weekly video calls with your parent are possible and meaningful. As Alzheimer's advances, your parent may no longer recognise your face on a screen, or may become distressed by the technology. At that point, your communication shifts — you are calling the facility staff, not your parent. You are asking for weekly updates on mood, appetite, sleep, and any incidents. You are requesting short video clips rather than live calls. A good facility will understand this transition and guide you through it rather than leaving you to figure it out alone.
Browse verified Alzheimer's care facilities in Delhi on ElderNest to find facilities with confirmed dementia care capabilities and NRI-specific services.
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