Capturing the perspectives of African American informal dementia caregivers: a phenomenological study.

Dementia can be overwhelming to families and their caregivers. Informal caregiving is a widespread mode of providing dementia care in African American communities, yet impact of caregiving on informal or family caregivers in African American communities is burdensome. This study aimed to describe the lived experiences of informal caregivers of African American People Living with Dementia (PLWD) to understand their perceptions of dementia and dementia care, caregiver support needs, and service needs. Interpretive phenomenological qualitative inquiry guided this study to understand caregivers' experiences and needs. Ten family caregivers of African American PLWD in the community participated in this study. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and a diary study approach to document and interpret caregivers' experiences. The data analysis was based on procedures of content analysis. Four major themes emerged from the in-depth interviews: caregiver burden, familism, lack of information and community-based resources, and desire and need for culturally appropriate community-based resources. Triangulated diary entry data complemented the in-depth interviews with similar themes. This study highlights how African American informal caregivers of PLWD face various caregiving needs and challenges in dementia care including lack of culturally appropriate community resources and information. The study illustrates that African American cultural beliefs of familism are significant aspects of their caregiving experience and their coping strategies. These study results provide a useful foundation for various stakeholders to develop culturally targeted interventions and programs to support African American informal caregivers and their family members with dementia.

Advances in blood biomarkers for Alzheimer disease (AD): A review.

Alzheimer disease (AD) and Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) are growing public health challenges globally affecting millions of older adults, necessitating concerted efforts to advance our understanding and management of these conditions. AD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized pathologically by amyloid plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles that are the primary cause of dementia in older individuals. Early and accurate diagnosis of AD dementia is crucial for effective intervention and treatment but has proven challenging to accomplish. Although testing for AD brain pathology with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or positron emission tomography (PET) has been available for over 2 decades, most patients never underwent this testing because of inaccessibility, high out-of-pocket costs, perceived risks, and the lack of AD-specific treatments. However, in recent years, rapid progress has been made in developing blood biomarkers for AD/ADRD. Consequently, blood biomarkers have emerged as promising tools for non-invasive and cost-effective diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of AD progression. This review presents the evolving landscape of blood biomarkers in AD/ADRD and explores their potential applications in clinical practice for early detection, prognosis, and therapeutic interventions. It covers recent advances in blood biomarkers, including amyloid beta (Aß) peptides, tau protein, neurofilament light chain (NfL), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). It also discusses their diagnostic and prognostic utility while addressing associated challenges and limitations. Future research directions in this rapidly evolving field are also proposed.

Assessing Culturally Tailored Dementia Interventions to Support Informal Caregivers of People Living with Dementia (PLWD): A Scoping Review.

The review aimed to identify and describe dementia care interventions and programs that are culturally tailored to support racial and ethnic minority informal caregivers of community-dwelling people living with dementia (PLWD) to identify gaps in need. Culturally targeted interventions to support vulnerable minority informal caregivers are important in addressing the care needs of PLWD and eliminating racial and ethnic dementia disparities. Nevertheless, little is known about the existing interventions and programs that are culturally tailored to support racial and ethnic minority groups, in particular, African-American caregivers in the care of their family members. We conducted a Scoping review, searching eight databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, APA PsycINFO, CINAHL, PUBMED, Scopus, and Web of Science between January 2012 and June 2022. Our search identified 2669 records, of which 17 articles were included in the analysis. The review addressed how these interventions have been developed to meet the needs and preferences of minority caregivers, particularly, African-American caregivers in culturally responsive ways. Findings show that culturally tailored interventions have the potential to improve the caregiving ability of informal caregivers. Supporting informal caregivers appears to be an effective strategy often improving the well-being of PLWD and reducing caregiver burden. The review demonstrates the paucity and diversity of research on culturally tailored dementia interventions to reduce racial and ethnic disparities. This scoping review identified gaps in the existing literature and aims for future work to develop and investigate cultural tailoring of interventions.