USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, 3715 McClintock Avenue , Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
Department of Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
BMC Geriatr. 2024 Aug 31;24(1):725. doi: 10.1186/s12877-024-05323-4.
Latinos are more likely than non-Latino Whites to develop dementia and be prescribed antipsychotics for dementia-related behavioral symptoms. Antipsychotics have significant risks yet are often overprescribed. Our understanding of how Latino caregivers of Latino older adults living with dementia perceive and address behavioral issues is limited, impeding our ability to address the root causes of antipsychotic overprescribing.
We interviewed Latino older adults' caregivers and community-based organization workers serving older adults with cognitive impairment (key informants), focusing on the management of behavioral symptoms and experiences with health services.
We interviewed 8 caregivers and 2 key informants. Caregivers were the spouses, children, or grandchildren of the older adult living with cognitive impairment; their ages ranged from 30 to 95. We identified three categories of how caregivers learned about, managed, and coped with behavioral symptoms: caregivers often faced shortcomings with dementia care in the medical system, receiving limited guidance and support; caregivers found community organizations and senior day centers to be lifelines, as they received relevant, timely advice and support, caregivers often devised their own creative strategies to manage behavioral symptoms.
In-depth interviews suggest that the healthcare system is failing to provide support for behavioral symptoms from dementia; caregivers of Latino older adults rely on community organizations instead.
与非拉丁裔白人相比，拉丁裔人更有可能患上痴呆症，并因痴呆症相关的行为症状而被开处抗精神病药物。抗精神病药物有很大的风险，但往往被过度开处。我们对拉丁裔照顾者如何看待和处理痴呆症老年拉丁裔患者的行为问题知之甚少，这阻碍了我们解决抗精神病药物过度开处的根本原因。
我们采访了拉丁裔老年患者的照顾者和为认知障碍老年人服务的社区组织工作人员（主要知情人），重点关注行为症状的管理和与卫生服务的相关经历。
我们采访了 8 名照顾者和 2 名主要知情人。照顾者是认知障碍老年患者的配偶、子女或孙子女；他们的年龄从 30 岁到 95 岁不等。我们确定了照顾者了解、管理和应对行为症状的三个类别：照顾者在医疗系统中经常面临痴呆症护理的不足，获得的指导和支持有限；照顾者发现社区组织和老年人日间中心是生命线，因为他们获得了相关的、及时的建议和支持，照顾者经常自行制定创意策略来管理行为症状。
深入访谈表明，医疗保健系统未能为痴呆症相关的行为症状提供支持；拉丁裔老年患者的照顾者依赖社区组织。
