Chronic confusion associated with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) complicates aspects of caregiving. Of the four million Americans suffering from ADRD, 80% live at home and are cared for by family. The 2000 census reports that of the 274 million persons living in the United States, 62 million (22.6%) are of ethnic minority. Assumptions about the nature of family caregiving based on the experience of Euro American caregivers may not hold true for minority groups. Supporting the position of Healthy People 2000/2010, the issues of health care disparity and culturally anchored care have also been identified as a priority by several national organizations including the National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institute of Aging, American Geriatric Society, and the National Alzheimer's Association. During post-doctoral work Dr. Gerdner became painfully aware of health care disparity among ethnic elders. While it appeared that some, if not most, of this disparity may be related to their ethnic/minority status she lacked the necessary ethnogeriatric research skills to thoroughly investigate this problem. This KO1 would provide the research training necessary to extend her expertise in chronic confusion/ADRD to ethnic minority populations for the purpose of adapting/developing and testing interventions that are culturally congruent. The immediate career objectives are to: 1) increase knowledge regarding the interplay of culture/ethnicity and its impact on the health of immigrant elders and their families; 2) to acquire the skills to develop, implement and evaluate culturally anchored interventions for persons with ADRD and their families, 3) acquire knowledge and skills in advanced ethnographic and focus group methodology and 4) to develop and submit an RO1 in the area of ethnographic research. Dr. Gerdner's three year program of research training is composed of two phases of pilot work designed to study the Hmong community for the purpose of understanding their cultural practices, thus enabling evidence-based protocols to be culturally adapted. Dr. Gerdner's career plans includes transferring the research skills and knowledge regarding the development/adapation and evaluation of culturally congruent programs of care with Hmong immigrants to other ethnic/immigrant minority.
| Gerdner, Linda A; Tripp-Reimer, Toni; Simpson, Helen C (2007) Hard lives, God's help, and struggling through: caregiving in Arkansas Delta. J Cross Cult Gerontol 22:355-74 |
| Gerdner, Linda A; Cha, Dia; Yang, Deu et al. (2007) The circle of life: end-of-life care and death rituals for Hmong-American elders. J Gerontol Nurs 33:20-9;quiz 30-1 |
| Gerdner, Linda A; Xiong, Shoua V; Cha, Dia (2006) Chronic confusion and memory impairment in Hmong elders: Honoring differing cultural beliefs in America. J Gerontol Nurs 32:23-31 |
