Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
African Career Education and Resources Inc., Brooklyn Park, MN 55445, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 29;19(7):4075. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19074075.
Research suggests a disparity in the prevalence of dementia, with Black older adults having double the risk compared to their White counterparts. African immigrants are a fast-growing segment of the U.S. Black population, but the dementia care needs and resources of this population are not fully understood. In this paper, we describe the process of working collaboratively with a community partner and project advisory board to conduct a culturally informed project. Specifically, we describe the process of developing culturally informed instruments to collect data on dementia care needs and resources among African immigrants. Working together with a diverse project advisory board, a guide was developed and used to conduct community conversations about experiences with dementia/memory loss. Transcripts from six conversations with 24 total participants were transcribed and analyzed thematically by two independent coders in Nvivo. These qualitative findings were used to inform the development of a survey for quantitative data collection that is currently ongoing. Themes (e.g., cultural attitudes, challenges, and current resources) from the community conversations that informed the survey are described briefly. Despite the challenges of conducting research during a global pandemic, having trusting relationships with a partnering community organization and project advisory board facilitated the successful development of instruments to conduct preliminary dementia care research in an underserved population. We anticipate that survey results will inform interventions that increase education, outreach, and access to dementia care and caregiving resources for this population. It may serve as a model for community-university partnerships for similar public health efforts in dementia as well as other chronic disease contexts.
研究表明，痴呆症的患病率存在差异，与白人相比，黑人老年人的患病风险高出一倍。非洲移民是美国黑人人口中增长最快的群体，但这一群体的痴呆症护理需求和资源尚未得到充分了解。在本文中，我们描述了与社区合作伙伴和项目顾问委员会合作开展文化知情项目的过程。具体来说，我们描述了开发文化知情工具的过程，以收集有关非洲移民痴呆症护理需求和资源的数据。与多元化的项目顾问委员会合作，制定了一份指南，用于开展关于痴呆症/记忆丧失体验的社区对话。六次对话共 24 位参与者的谈话记录被转录，并在 Nvivo 中由两名独立编码员进行主题分析。这些定性发现被用于为正在进行的定量数据收集调查的开发提供信息。简要描述了社区对话中为调查提供信息的主题（例如，文化态度、挑战和当前资源）。尽管在全球大流行期间开展研究存在挑战，但与合作社区组织和项目顾问委员会建立信任关系，有助于成功开发针对服务不足人群进行初步痴呆症护理研究的工具。我们预计调查结果将为该人群的痴呆症护理和护理资源的教育、外展和获取提供信息。它可以作为社区-大学伙伴关系的模型，用于痴呆症和其他慢性疾病领域的类似公共卫生工作。
