The number of informal caregivers needed for older African Americans is increasing significantly, and is predicted to continue to rise. In the city of Buffalo, NY, African Americans comprise over 37% of the population and one third live below poverty level. African Americans do the work of caregiving under several unique constraints. These constraints include health disparities affecting care recipients and caregivers, higher levels of poverty, lower levels for utilization of formal supportive health care services, and a persisting legacy of discrimination. Working with African American caregivers in the Buffalo community to identify and address their needs is a pressing concern. Programs developed to assist caregivers belonging to other populations may not be appropriate or accessible to African American caregivers. The tenets of community-based participatory research offer a philosophical foundation and framework useful for working with African American caregivers to find ways to support and assist caregivers. Ultimately such work can lead to improved health outcomes for both caregivers and their care recipients. The purpose of the proposed project is to work in partnership with residents of the Near East Side (Buffalo, New York) to design and pilot test a culturally appropriate, supportive intervention for African American caregivers who are providing care to an adult family member in their homes. Using community based participatory research (CBPR), the primary aims of this study are to: 1. design the detailed content, format, and schedule for an intervention to assist family caregivers 2. Implement the intervention with one community site. 3. Assess feasibility, acceptability, and perceived value of the intervention through collection of qualitative data and pre-post quantitative measures. Future studies will focus on evaluating the effectiveness of the intervention developed in this application through a multi-site controlled clinical trial. The long term objective of these efforts is to provide culturally appropriate supportive interventions for African American caregivers throughout our community. ? ? ? ?
