Dementia and Migration: Pakistani Immigrants in the Norwegian Welfare State

This article is about dementia disease in the context of transnational migration. Focusing on the example of Pakistani immigrants in Norway, the article explores response processes surrounding signs and symptoms of dementia. Particular attention is lent to understanding how Norwegian-Pakistani families ‘negotiate dementia’ in the space between their own imported, culturally defined system of cure and care, and the Norwegian health-care culture, which is characterised by an inclination towards public care and biomedical intervention. Based on Field observations and in-depth interviews with Norwegian-Pakistani families and hospital professionals working with dementia, we show that the centrality of the traditional family in Norwegian-Pakistanis’ identity claims has significant implications for how Norwegian-Pakistanis relate to the Norwegian health-care culture, and for how signs and symptoms of cognitive decline are read and responded to in amigratory context.