Support Groups For Alzheimers Caregivers In Ethnic Communities

Alzheimer’s support groups

Alzheimer’s disease is a debilitating and ultimately fatal condition that can be devastating for both patients and their loved ones. Caregivers face an incredible challenge when they shoulder the burden of an ailing loved one, and the goal of support groups is to provide these brave people the knowledge, emotional assistance, and spiritual encouragement they may need. Alzheimer’s disease has no ethnic boundaries, and caregivers from a variety of cultural backgrounds are in need of support. Researchers have found, however, that minorities rarely take advantage of Alzheimer’s support groups. In many cases, cultural gaps prove insurmountable. Recent research, however, based on actual case studies, has discovered a variety of techniques for enticing cultural minorities into Alzheimer’s support groups.

Different cultures view Alzheimer’s disease differently; therefore, minorities may desire support but assume that groups will be tailored to the values and attitudes of a white population. In order to provide the support that minorities needed, researchers had to do more than just place support groups in ethnic communities with group leaders who were from the same ethnic background and spoke the same language; they had to tailor the structure of the group itself to make different cultures feel comfortable. First, support group leaders had to go into the communities and find influential members who could not only connect them with key community resources but also act as a recruiter for the support group. The location for the support group had to be at a neutral location within the heart of the community that community members would feel comfortable with. For example, churches might not be the best places to hold Alzheimer’s support groups in African American communities because of the rules of etiquette that keep church members loyal to their own congregations. The members of the Alzheimer’s support groups, rather than the leaders, should be allowed to decide on the format of the groups. For example, Alzheimer’s support groups for African American and Hispanic communities were less formal and more boisterous. Food also played an important role; Hispanics saw food as a source of comfort, while African Americans from low income communities focused on the functionality of food, with different members sharing the economic burden of provision.

By tailoring the Alzheimer’s support groups specifically to the ethnic communities they served, researchers were able to reinforce cultural strengths and overcome cultural resistance to much-needed support. For example, groups acknowledged and supported the tradition of intergenerational caregiving in African American families while also providing critical information about the illness itself and resources in the community. Groups also helped older immigrants overcome the resistance they felt towards support groups, considering that, when they first arrived in America, some of them had to do everything on their own, without any assistance from the local or federal government. Finally, groups helped support Hispanics whose culture sometimes views mental illness as shameful. Connecting Hispanics with members of their own community who were facing the same difficulties made them feel less isolated. Above all, the researchers learned that starting a support group in an ethnic community requires more personal contact, more phone calls, and more frequent visits in order for support group leaders to become an accepted and trusted member of the community they serve.

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