Weill Institute for Neurosciences, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
Department of General Internal Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Clin Gerontol. 2023 Mar-Apr;46(2):180-194. doi: 10.1080/07317115.2022.2088324. Epub 2022 Jun 17.
Older immigrants of Latin American descent are disproportionately impacted by dementia, yet little is known about their dementia- and brain health-related knowledge. We explored perspectives on brain health and aging in this population to inform the development of culturally-relevant interventions.
Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 Spanish-speaking immigrants over 60. Questions addressed knowledge about the brain, perceptions of healthy and unhealthy aging, ideas of how to take care of one's brain, and where knowledge was acquired. Responses were analyzed using thematic analysis.
The following themes emerged: (1) Descriptions of the brain varied, from anatomy, cognition, and psychology to disease. (2) Perceptions of healthy aging included independence, memory, emotions, and orientation. (3) Ideas of how to care for the brain included physical, social, and cognitive engagement. (4) Knowledge was acquired in childhood, communities, healthcare settings, careers, and media.
Results showed significant variability in knowledge. Findings may be leveraged to improve interventions that address brain health literacy disparities among older Latin American immigrants.
Takeaways involve increasing education about the structure and functions of the brain, promoting realistic understandings of what nonnormative brain aging entails, and increasing knowledge of empirically-supported maintenance approaches. Dissemination may be increased via healthcare providers, community centers, churches, and media.
拉丁裔老年移民受痴呆症影响的比例不成比例，但人们对他们的痴呆症和大脑健康相关知识知之甚少。我们探讨了这一人群对大脑健康和衰老的看法，以为相关的文化干预措施提供信息。
对 30 名西班牙语移民进行了个人、半结构化访谈，年龄均在 60 岁以上。问题涉及对大脑的了解、对健康和不健康衰老的看法、如何照顾大脑的想法，以及知识的来源。使用主题分析对回答进行了分析。
出现了以下主题：（1）对大脑的描述各不相同，从解剖学、认知和心理学到疾病。（2）健康衰老的观念包括独立性、记忆力、情绪和方向感。（3）照顾大脑的方法包括身体、社会和认知参与。（4）知识是在童年、社区、医疗保健机构、职业和媒体中获得的。
研究结果表明知识存在显著差异。这些发现可以被利用来改善干预措施，以解决拉丁裔老年移民中大脑健康素养的差异。
需要增加有关大脑结构和功能的教育，促进对非规范大脑衰老所涉及内容的现实理解，并增加对经验支持的维持方法的了解。可以通过医疗保健提供者、社区中心、教堂和媒体来增加传播。
