Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (AD) affects 5.6 million Americans regardless of racial, ethnic or cultural background, presenting a significant public health challenge that will only increase with aging of the US population. By 2050, the US Census Bureau estimates that over one-fifth of the US population will be 65 and older. The greatest rate of increase will be experienced in the most vulnerable group those 85 and older. In 2000, this population represented 1.5% of the US population;by 2050, they will comprise almost 5%. Each, with each person with dementia is estimated to have 2.9 family caregivers. Little attention has been placed on the role and impact of cultural beliefs and sociodemographic factors (age, gender, education, language, race, ethnicity) on the patient's and families'understanding of the signs, symptoms, causes, treatment or management of AD, their disease experiences, or how these factors influence health outcomes. Much AD caregiving research has been done in Caucasian populations;by 2050 it is estimated that the proportion of elder Americans who are African American, Hispanic, or Asian American will increase to 39%. To effectively attend to the AD epidemic we address SIP-14-003 with the following OBJECTIVES: (a) develop evidence- based public health messages about cognitive health and impairment that resonate with diverse populations of older adults and their families, their health care providers, and policy makers;(b) determine the most effective ways to disseminate these messages;and (c) translate these messages into health promotion and prevention programs that promote risk reduction, facilitate early detection, diagnosis and treatment, and increase participation in AD clinical research. To achieve our objectives, we propose the following activities: 1) Perform a scoping review and create a compendium of facilitators and barriers;2) Conduct and analyze results from 4 focus groups of AD patients from diverse backgrounds and 4 focus groups with their family caregiver;3) Convene a Stakeholder Advisory Coalition to provide expert guidance and insight;4) Leverage city- and state- wide connections and disseminate the findings and the compendium to the public health and clinical research networks;and 5) Evaluate effectiveness of dissemination and community translation approaches. This application has the potential to have sustained influence on the evidence-based messages for improved public health practice. Furthermore, our cross-cultural approach can be generalized for broader implementation.
We incorporate social-ecological models, incorporating a focus on the individual, community and societal-level in messaging and dissemination and translation efforts. Our collective efforts will lead to development of culturally- relevant, evidence-informed public health messages and communication strategies about cognitive health and impairment that advance national goals to: (a) raise awareness of AD;(b) better understand the burden of AD on patients, families, providers and health delivery systems;(c) increase research participation in older adults;and (d) translate this acquired knowledge into public health practice in the context of an increasingly diverse older adult population.
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