The objective of this study was to explore awareness, recognition and understanding of dementia symptoms in families of South Asian and African/Caribbean descent in the UK. In-depth, semistructured interviews were carried out with South Asian and African/Caribbean carers. Interview transcripts were analysed by coding the data into themes and investigating links between them, using the constant comparison approach of grounded theory. Thirty carers of a person with dementia of South Asian and African/Caribbean heritage were interviewed.