Dementia caregiving is the ongoing physical, social, emotional support provided to people living with dementia, helping them carry out everyday activities.

As the global population ages, there is an increasing number of people living with dementia and those who provide care. Care may be formal, delivered by trained professionals in hospitals, nursing homes, or through home-care services, or informal, provided without pay by family members or friends. Most people with dementia are being cared for by their family, however, as the condition advances, professional nursing at home or in long-term residential care is often required.

Caregiving for people with dementia includes medical, psychological, and social dimensions. Common approaches and issues include person-centered care, considering the effects of the physical environment, difficulties in communication, pain assessment and incontinence care.

The wellbeing of caregivers themselves is an important aspect of dementia caregiving. Long-term informal caregiving is associated with wide-ranging impacts on physical and mental health and on financial circumstances, collectively described as caregiver burden. Formal caregivers, such as nurses in acute or community settings, also face increased risk of burnout. A range of interventions can help alleviate burden and improve wellbeing. Effective measures include complementary formal services, training and psychoeducation, psychological therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy, and support groups.

Family caregivers (also known as informal or unpaid caregivers) are relatives, partners or friends who provide care for people struggling with their everyday activities due to age, long-term illness or disability. The majority of people living with dementia are cared for by their families or unpaid carers, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The role of family carers is widely recognised as vital for the wellbeing of people with dementia. They provide physical, social, emotional, and financial support.

Formal caregivers (also known as paid caregivers) are trained professionals, including care workers at hospitals, day-care centers and nursing homes; home care and respite care providers; healthcare assistants; and other unlicensed assistive personnel. Formal services are typically used when the disease has already progressed. Reasons for not receiving formal care early on include people with dementia refusing such services, family members preferring to provide care themselves, lack of information from doctors about available services, and socioeconomic barriers such as living in rural areas.

People living with dementia have complex and diverse needs, so caregiving must include medical, psychological, and social dimensions.

Offering personally tailored activity sessions to people with dementia in long-term care homes may help manage challenging behavior. No evidence supports the idea that activities are more effective when they match individuals' interests. At the same time, a program showed that simple measures, like talking to people about their interests, can improve the quality of life for care home residents living with dementia. These measures reduced residents' agitation and depression and led to fewer GP visits and hospital admissions, making the programme cost-saving.