Ethnic elders have been found to wait to access services for dementia care until symptoms become severe. This is in contrast to Caucasians, who have been found to be served by dementia care at an earlier stage, where some dementia symptoms can potentially be reversed (e.g., B12 deficiency, medicinal side effects, infections). Hence, the long-term goal of this research proposal is to acquire information regarding the delay in accessing dementia care services, and then to promote behavior change using social marketing and stages of change models. The research proposal has four objectives: 1) to understand the reasons behind the delay in accessing dementia care, factoring in ethnic elders' and their caregivers' stage of behavior change, as well as their knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices (KABP) towards delayed dementia-care seeking; 2) to segment the sample, creating a target audience based on their stage of change; 3) to develop stage-specific key messages with the involvement of ethnic elders and their caregivers to address different KABPs; and 4) to disseminate and evaluate the effectiveness of these key messages among the target audience. Data will be collected via university-based and community partnering organizations utilizing focus groups and surveys. Analyses will include factor analysis, multiple regression models, and hierarchical linear modeling.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31)
Project #
5F31AG021879-02
Application #
6747874
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-SSS-C (29))
Program Officer
Stahl, Sidney M
Project Start
2003-06-01
Project End
2006-05-31
Budget Start
2004-06-01
Budget End
2005-05-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$40,676
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Southern California
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
072933393
City
Los Angeles
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90089
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Carpenter, Brian D; Zoller, Sarah M; Balsis, Steve et al. (2011) Demographic and contextual factors related to knowledge about Alzheimer's disease. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen 26:121-6
Carpenter, Brian D; Balsis, Steve; Otilingam, Poorni G et al. (2009) The Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale: development and psychometric properties. Gerontologist 49:236-47