Native Elders, Dementia and Family Caregiving

描述（由申请人提供）：对以下因素的影响知之甚少： 美国印第安人的痴呆症，尽管在过去50年中急剧增加， in this population人口's预期life expectancy预期.这个指导职业的目标 发展奖（K01）是为申请人提供技能和 在该领域发展独立研究计划所需的知识 对美洲印第安人痴呆症的评估和管理。因此，在本发明中， 该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 2）在原住民社区有丰富的经验，2）提高检测能力 和评估土著老年人中的痴呆症，以及3）培养专业知识 在为患有痴呆症的美洲印第安人提供非正式护理方面。 与此职业发展奖相关的研究项目构成 一项在土著社区调查痴呆症的开创性工作。具体地说， 本研究的目的是：（1）探讨 美国印第安人社区内的认知障碍，2）测试 文化修饰的痴呆症评估的可接受性和有效性， 土著老人，和3）检查痴呆症患者的家庭支持， 它的负担和满足。为了实现这些目标，面试将 与150名老年营养计划的老年客户一起进行， 北方平原保留地。这些采访包括一个文化修改 痴呆症评估，以及开放式问题，探索 在保留地中的老化、损伤和被照顾的经历 社区此外，30名照顾长者的家庭成员， 痴呆症评估的分数将接受采访，了解挑战， 为残疾长者提供照顾。这项研究将产生 关于文化形成、表达和管理的宝贵信息 痴呆症在土著社区，知识是至关重要的努力， 确定痴呆症的患病率，并为认知障碍者提供服务， 原住民长者及其家庭照顾者。

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.