{"id":1061,"date":"2021-04-26T17:11:41","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T17:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=1061"},"modified":"2021-04-26T17:12:34","modified_gmt":"2021-04-26T17:12:34","slug":"new-alzheimers-association-research-shows-that-african-americans-experience-health-care-disparity-and-discrimination-in-getting-alzheimers-and-dementia-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/26\/new-alzheimers-association-research-shows-that-african-americans-experience-health-care-disparity-and-discrimination-in-getting-alzheimers-and-dementia-care\/","title":{"rendered":"New Alzheimer\u2019s Association Research Shows that African Americans Experience Health Care Disparity and Discrimination in Getting Alzheimer\u2019s and Dementia Care"},"content":{"rendered":"

Special to The Truth\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

Ernest Gragg is \u201ca little stubborn\u201d about things and fiercely independent, said her daughter Priscilla Robinson.<\/p>\n

You can see it in how she lives her life. Ernest Gragg worked until she was 83 years old. A history and English teacher, she retired from teaching and then went to work again fluctuating from full-time to part-time to full-time again. Even after retiring at 83, she went back to work as a contract employee.<\/p>\n

Today at 86, Gragg is showing signs of memory loss. A long-distance caregiver, Robinson said she talks to her mother every day- sometimes multiple times a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe admitted to me that she\u2019s gotten turned around a few times driving,\u201d Robinson said. Another concern: \u201cShe repeats herself over and over and over,\u201d Robinson said. The family has voiced other concerns.<\/p>\n

Robinson took her mother to the doctor to get checked for memory issues, but the doctor did not diagnose her with dementia and did not give any advice on how to handle the family\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were a little cavalier in the way they handled my concerns,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cWhen you see her once every few months and I talk to her every day, I feel I know her better than the doctor knows her\u2026.If I went in and thought it was an ulcer, the doctor would tell you don\u2019t eat this, do that. Why not for this issue?\u201d<\/p>\n

Karen D. Gorman Jones said when she first started noticing changes in her mother, her mother\u2019s doctor would not even acknowledge her concerns.\u00a0 Her mother changed doctors and the geriatric doctor told Gorman Jones that nothing was wrong with her mom, Inez Gorman. Less than a year later, Gorman Jones said, the diagnosis came \u2013 her mother had Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

African Americans are disproportionately impacted by Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Older African Americans are almost twice as likely as whites to get the disease. But new research findings also show they bear the brunt of health care disparity and discrimination in getting Alzheimer\u2019s and dementia care.<\/p>\n

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Findings from two national surveys appearing in the Alzheimer\u2019s Association 2021 Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Facts and Figures<\/em> report reveal that half of African Americans (50 percent) report they have experienced health care discrimination. More than two in five Native Americans (42 percent) and one-third of Asian Americans (34 percent) and Hispanic Americans (33 percent) likewise report having experienced discrimination when seeking health care.<\/p>\n

In addition, half or more of non-White caregivers say they have experienced discrimination when navigating health care settings for their care recipient, with the top concern being that providers or staff do not listen to what they are saying because of their race, color or ethnicity.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite ongoing efforts to address health and health care disparities in Alzheimer\u2019s and dementia care, survey results show there is still a lot of work to be done,\u201d said Carl V. Hill, Ph.D., MPH, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Alzheimer\u2019s Association.<\/p>\n

Eric VanVlymen, Ohio Regional Leader of the Alzheimer\u2019s Association, said in Ohio, the Association is conducting community forums to get more insight into Ohioans\u2019 experience. \u201cWe consistently say go to the doctor if you are noticing memory issues, but it is imperative that once people are there that people are diagnosed as early as possible and get the medical care needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robinson said in her case, she doesn\u2019t think she was being discriminated against. The doctor just did not want to deal with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not pushed to the back of the stove, it was pushed off the stove,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cThe doctor was not helpful in addressing these things. All of these things are disheartening. I just feel it\u2019s going to be a struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued, \u201cRight now I don\u2019t have anybody to help. Where do I start, what do I do, all of these things are of a concern to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

People with immediate concerns can call the Alzheimer\u2019s Association\u2019s 24\/7 Helpline at 800.272.3900. The Alzheimer\u2019s Association is helping to train primary care physicians to increase the accuracy and timeliness of diagnosis of people with Alzheimer\u2019s and other dementia through an initiative called Project Echo\u00ae<\/sup>. Once enrolled, physicians can present cases and get coaching from a multidisciplinary clinical team of experts from around\u00a0the country.<\/p>\n

VanVlymen said current and future health care providers must be prepared to screen, diagnose and treat Alzheimer\u2019s and dementia in racially and ethnically diverse older adults because by 2050, up to 39 percent of this older adult population will be non-White Americans.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the Association we are focused on working to understand how we achieve health equity in dementia because everyone deserves accurate and timely diagnosis and effective treatment,\u201d VanVlymen said.<\/p>\n

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Tips on Getting an Alzheimer\u2019s Diagnosis<\/strong><\/p>\n