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Abstract

Dementia poses an escalating public health challenge in Ghana due to an expanding aging population, yet rural awareness remains critically low. Guided by Mohan Dutta’s Culture-Centered Approach (CCA), this PRISMA-compliant qualitative systematic review synthesized ten peer-reviewed articles to examine cultural perceptions and lived experiences surrounding dementia in rural Ghana. The findings highlight that cognitive decline is widely misattributed to witchcraft or normalized as standard aging. Witchcraft misconceptions subject individuals—especially older women—to severe stigmatization, social exclusion, physical abuse, and banishment to "witch camps". Meanwhile, normalizing symptoms as ordinary aging delays critical medical care and shifts family decision-making away from patients. Furthermore, structural deficits and linear, top-down health interventions fail due to a lack of cultural grounding. Effectively addressing dementia in rural Ghana requires community-centered, participatory strategies that engage local populations to eliminate stigma and foster culturally appropriate geriatric care.

Journal Title

Iowa Journal of Communication

Volume

58

Issue

1

First Page

309

Last Page

327

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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