Objective: To examine barriers of recruitment of minorities, specifically black Americans, to Alzheimer’s research projects and participation in formal services offering care and information; to delineate strategies for successful outreach in ethnic communities.
Design: Review of recruitment literature and specific community outreach projects, comparing factors that led to success or failure of the outreach effort.
Materials and Methods: Materials consists of published accounts of outreach projects, reports from focus groups, and examination of current outreach efforts. The author will compare Alzheimer’s specific outreach projects and non-Alzheimer’s outreach efforts in the black community.
Results: Most often, failure to reach the black community has been a failure on the part of the outreach worker who has been unable or unwilling to tailor outreach efforts to the needs of the target community. As the American society grows increasingly older and the elder population more diverse, there is recognition of an urgent need to include populations with different ethnic and cultural orientations in the search for a greater understanding of how to assist all persons with Alzheimer’s and the families and professionals who care for them. Race, class, and health are inextricably bound and determine in a major way the individual’s access to support, resources, and services that make a difference in his or her ability to manage the many demands of Alzheimer’s care.
Racial, ethnic, and cultural variations in the caregiving experience suggest different ways of doing things and different needs as defined by the various ethnic groups. This difference becomes critical for the researcher, for example, in determining whether Alzheimer’s is manifested the same way in blacks as in whites, whether its natural course is comparable, or if blacks respond differently to intervention. The successful collection of data to answer such questions is dependent upon how families view research and the use of the data. Understanding both the uniqueness of the experience of minority families caring for persons with Alzheimer’s disease and how that experience may be distinguished, both by its universal elements and those elements that are unique to the group helps researchers and others better serve minority populations. Policy makers, service providers, and researchers must know and respect the beliefs and health practices of all ethnic groups, including blacks, as critical components in planning effective outreach strategies.
Conclusion: There are good reasons why outreach to the black community has been difficult in the past and continues to haunt present day efforts. There are, however, good models that offer strategies for success in reaching the community and for providing equitable care, information and research options in Alzheimer’s disease. Given the changing demographics in black and other ethnic minority populations, it is imperative to become skilled at reaching all groups in bringing parity in Alzheimer’s care, information, and research options.
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