A FREE GUIDE FOR MAURITIAN FAMILIES

The Mauritius Guide to Caring for an Elderly Parent at Home

An elderly woman and a middle-aged woman sit on a beige sofa in a living room, holding hands and smiling at each other. The room features a large window with black louvers, a wooden sideboard with family photos and blue-and-white vases, a large potted plant, and a coffee table with a lace tablecloth, a flower vase, and a decorative bowl.

It usually starts with something small. A pot left on the stove. A tablet still sitting in the Monday compartment on Thursday. A fall in the bathroom that your mother mentions three days later, lightly, as though it were nothing at all.

Then comes the harder part, which is not knowing what to do next. Whether this is ageing or something more. Whether to say something now or wait. Whether help means taking her independence away or giving it back.

This guide is for that moment. It is a practical, honest resource for families across Mauritius who are trying to keep an ageing parent safe, comfortable and independent in their own home, written for the people actually making these decisions rather than for professionals.

Who is this for

Every family arrives at this differently. Three situations come up again and again with the families we meet in the north.

You have started to notice things

Small changes that you cannot quite name yet. This guide will help you work out what you are actually looking at, and what is worth acting on now rather than watching.

You are managing this from another country

More than 100,000 Mauritians live abroad, and a great many of them are quietly organising care for a parent from the UK, France, Australia, Canada or South Africa. Distance makes every decision harder to verify. We deal with this directly.

You are already the carer

You are doing the shopping, the appointments and the medication, and it has become bigger than you expected. There is a part of this guide for you, not just for your parent.

How this guide works

We are writing this guide chapter by chapter and publishing each part as it is finished. Section titles that are linked below are ready to read now. The rest are on the way.

When the full guide is complete, it will also be available as a single printable PDF you can keep, send to a sibling, or hand to a doctor. There is nothing to sign up for and nothing to pay. We would rather it was easy to share.

If you would rather just ask a person, that works too. Our details are at the bottom of this page.

What the guide covers

Fourteen parts, from recognising the first signs through to government support, printable checklists and building a care plan.

    • Why this guide exists, and who it is for

    • Mauritius is ageing: changing families, children overseas, and why home care matters more than it used to

    • Dementia care: early signs, communication, routine and safety

    • Alzheimer's care: understanding and supporting a loved one

    • Caring for someone who has had a stroke

    • Post-hospital care: bringing a parent home safely

    • Falls and mobility: prevention, and what to do after a fall

    • Caring for a bedridden or reduced-mobility parent

    • The elderly home safety checklist, room by room

    • Preparing a home for an elderly parent: a 30-minute assessment

    • Medication management at home: a practical system

    • Nutrition and hydration for an ageing parent

    • Exercise and movement for seniors at home

    • Sleep changes in older age: what is normal and what is not

    • When the family becomes the care team

    • How siblings can share the responsibility

    • Caring for a parent in Mauritius when you live overseas

    • How to choose a home care provider in Mauritius

    • Questions to ask before hiring a caregiver

    • What does elderly care cost in Mauritius?

    • Government support for older people

    • Protection of elderly persons: recognising and reporting abuse

    • Emergency information: numbers every family should have

    • Emergency contact sheet

    • Medication record

    • Medical appointment record

    • Family care plan

    • Daily care log

    • Home safety checklist

    • Caregiver interview checklist

    • Your parent's personal care plan

    • Reviewing and updating the plan

    • Our services, plainly described

    • Starting home care: what happens next

    • Useful government resources

    • Important contacts

    • Glossary of care terms

    • Family care planning worksheets

    • Sources and references

A daughter's hand resting on her elderly mother's hand beside a notebook and pill organiser

Who is writing this

Homebird is a home care agency serving Northern Mauritius, from Grand Baie and Pereybere across to Goodlands, Triolet and Cap Malheureux. We started it because we had lived through it ourselves, first caring for a father with dementia over two years, and later for a mother after a broken hip.

We are writing this guide because most of what families here can find online was written for somewhere else. It does not account for the fact that your sister is in Melbourne, that a specialist appointment can take three months, or that trusting a stranger in your mother's house is a decision nobody makes lightly in a community this size.

Nothing in this guide requires you to hire us. If it helps you look after your parent better on your own, that is a good outcome.

Not sure where to start?

If you would rather talk it through than read, send us a message. No pressure and no obligation, just a conversation about what your parent actually needs.

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Last updated: August 2026