Silent Alzheimer's Epidemic in African American Community
New America Media, News Report, Mary Ambrose, Posted: Nov 29, 2007
Editor’s Note: The strong family culture of African Americans greatly influences the way they deal with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and care of older family members, according to the first in-depth study to interview African Americans caregivers on how they seek help in caring for people with dementia. Mary Ambrose is the managing editor of New America Media.
Elderly African Americans are the biggest ethnic group in the United States and within that group Alzheimer’s has been called a silent epidemic. Increased rates of hypertension compared to other ethnicities, doubles the risk of developing Alzheimer’s, also more African Americans have Type 2 diabetes and/or high cholesterol, which can lead to vascular dementia and/or Alzheimer’s.
Despite this, the first in-depth study to interview African Americans caregivers on how they seek help in caring for people with dementia, was just completed by Travonia Brown-Hughes at the University of Kentucky. She interviewed 17 caregivers who had received confirmed diagnoses of Alzheimer’s for a family member. Although this seems like a small sample, in qualitative studies the researchers stop when they find people telling the similar stories over and over.
Over half of the caregivers thought the elder’s symptoms were the result of a stressful event, emerged as one theme. Typical was one man who told Brown-Hughes, his grandfather had died, and four years later they noticed their grandmother’s symptoms but thought: “Oh, it’s still the stress. Cause she was having to deal with probate court and all that. Had the cousins wanting their share. We thought the stress would go away…her memory would start to come back. And it got worse.” This response is usual for this group: the older person’s not recovered from the loss of a friend, or they moved house. Their symptoms are seen as part of a transient state, or as the product of natural aging. The man with the ill grandmother said he knew, “something’s not right but I really didn’t associate it with Alzheimer’s.”
Caregivers who know other elders and can compare the behaviors, the study found, are also more persistent in following up with doctors. One woman told Brown-Hughes that “The doctors and my friends went: ‘Well Karen, you know, she is 76.’ Everyone blames it on age, but I have an auntie that is 96, sharp. I have another auntie that is 93, sharp and I have seen people that are 101 and 102, sharp, and I am wondering why is this happening to her.” This attitude is much more likely to lead to an early diagnosis.
Walking through the steps African American caregivers took before they went to a doctor, Brown-Hughes found that after they noticed recurrent signs of their family member acting differently, they often rationalized that behavior and only sought a doctor when they had their suspicions confirmed by another. The strong family culture of African Americans means that family members have a very strong influence on helping decide if an elderly family member should see a physician. According to this study, if suspicions are confirmed by other family members, the main caregiver will seek assistance.
Most of the caregivers interviewed – 81 percent – were female, with a mean age of almost 60 years old and a mean annual household income of $20-29,999. This is a group that needs to take advantage of all available assistance in order to care adequately for a person with Alzheimer’s and part of that is an early diagnosis. The study recommended that African Americans try and educate themselves on Alzheimer’s so that they are not so reliant on the opinion of others in order to secure a diagnosis. And until that time, Brown-Hughes suggested that the informal social support network in the community – like pastors – urge their congregation members to seek medical assistance, early on.
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User Comments
Carol D. O\\\'Dell on Nov 29, 2007 at 11:46:43 said:
I\\\'m so grateful to see that the issue of Alzheimer\\\'s among African Americans is being addressed.
-->As an author and speaker on caregiving issues, I see this scenario played out in communities around the country. I have seen many African Americans struggle to care for their mothers, fathers, aunts, and other while having to work full-time and deal with their own stress issues.
We need much, much more coverage so that more funding will be directed to ethnic groups--and communities that need and deserve attention to this, and other health crisis issues.
And as this report indicates, African American caregivers are oftentimes in their sixties and must eventually realize they cannot physically or financially continue to carry the brunt of their family\\\'s caregiving needs. The catch-22 is that African Americans by in large value family closeness and rely on each other immensely.
I hope more funding and more research will focus on African Americans and this very serious impact on their lives.
~Carol D. O\\\'Dell
Author of MOTHERING MOTHER: A Daughter\\\'s Humorous and Heartbreaking Memoir, available on Amazon and in most bookstores.
www.mothering-mother.com