Native Elders, Dementia and Family Caregiving

描述(申请人提供)：尽管痴呆症对美国印第安人的影响在过去50年里急剧增加，但人们对此知之甚少。 在这些人的预期寿命中。这个有指导的职业生涯的目标是 发展奖(K01)是为申请者提供技能和 在该领域制定独立研究计划所需的知识 美国印第安人痴呆症的评估和管理。因此， 这项建议有三个具体的职业发展目标：1)更好地 了解痴呆症的文化表达和管理现状 在土著社区有经验，2)培养对检测的熟练程度 和评估土著老年人的痴呆症，以及3)培养专业知识 在为患有痴呆症的美国印第安人提供非正式护理方面。 与该职业发展奖相关的研究项目构成 一项在土著社区研究痴呆症的开创性努力。具体来说， 本研究的目的是：1)从文化现象学的角度来探讨 美国印第安人社区内的认知障碍，2)测试 文化改良痴呆症评估的可接受性和有效性 3)检查痴呆症患者的家庭照顾情况， 它的负担和满足感。为了实现这些目标，采访将 与150名老年营养计划的老年客户一起进行 北部平原保留地。这些采访包括一个经过文化改造的 痴呆症评估，以及探索 在保留区的衰老、损伤和被照顾的经历 社区。此外，向老年人提供30名家庭照顾者，代表了一系列 痴呆症评估的分数将就挑战和 照顾失能老人的满足感。这项研究将产生 关于文化的制定、表达和管理的有价值的信息 在土著社区中患痴呆症的知识，这对努力 确定痴呆症患病率并为认知障碍者开发服务 土著长老和他们的家庭照顾者。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Very little is known about the impact of dementia on American Indians, despite dramatic increases over the past 50 years in this population's life expectancy. The goal of this Mentored Career Development Award (K01) is to provide the applicant with the skills and knowledge necessary to develop an independent program of research in the area of the evaluation and management of dementia among American Indians. As such, this proposal has three specific career development goals: 1) to better understand the cultural expression and management of dementia as it is experienced in Native communities, 2) to develop proficiency in the detection and assessment of dementia among Native elders, and 3) to cultivate expertise in the area of informal care giving for American Indians with dementia. The research project associated with this career development award constitutes a seminal effort to investigate dementia in a Native community. Specifically, the aims of this research are 1) to explore the cultural phenomenology of cognitive impairment within an American Indian community, 2) to test the acceptability and validity of a culturally modified dementia evaluation among Native elders, and 3) to examine family caregiving for persons with dementia, both its burdens and gratifications. To accomplish these aims, interviews will be conducted with 150 elderly clients of a senior nutrition program on a Northern Plains reservation. These interviews include a culturally modified dementia evaluation, as well as open-ended questions that explore the experience of aging, impairment, and being cared for in a reservation community. In addition, 30 family caregivers to elders representing a range of scores on the dementia evaluation will be interviewed about the challenges and gratifications of providing care to disabled elders. This research will yield valuable information about the cultural formulation, expression, and management of dementia in a Native community, knowledge that is crucial to efforts to determine dementia prevalence and to develop services for cognitively impaired Native elders and their family caregivers.