Overview
This project aims to culturally adapt the SHARE program for African-Americans in early-moderate stage dementia and their care partner. Upon completion of the adaptation, a pilot randomized-control trial wil be confucted to compare the adaptaed SHARE program versus usual care.
Description
Aim 1: Review SHARE for Dementia materials with an Advisory Committee (AC; 6-10 African Americans with lived experience and experts) to identify distinct needs of African American care dyads and culturally adapt SHARE using this input. Deliverables: Develop SHARE V1 Culturally tailored V1 SHARE Counselor Manual, V1 SHARE Guide for Families, and V1 SHARE Counselor training Aim 2: Conduct focus groups with African American care dyads (n=2 groups; n=10 dyads total, or until saturation) and community service provider staff (n= 2 groups; n=10, or until saturation) to identify strengths and limitations of the V1 SHARE materials, procedures, and protocols. Deliverables: SHARE for African Americans (Version 2;V2); Culturally tailored V2 SHARE Counselor Manual, V2 SHARE Guide for Families, and V2 SHARE Counselor training Aim 3: Train SHARE counselors (n=20) to implement V2 of SHARE. Aim 4: Examine: a) the acceptability and feasibility and; 2) preliminary efficacy of the culturally adapted V2 of SHARE in a fully powered trial with 120 African American care dyads.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- African American dyads (both the caregivers and the care-recipient, an individual with an early-stage memory impairing condition (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, cognitive impairment, etc.)
- Care-recipient lives at home.
- The caregiver (CG) and/or the person with dementia (PWD), or symptoms of memory loss must identify as African American.
- PWD must be at least 50 years old and CGs 18 or older,
- Ability to speak and read English,
- Experiencing signs and symptoms of mild to moderate dementia through family caregiver report on the Dementia Severity Rating Scale and meeting the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association clinical criteria for probable AD.
Exclusion Criteria:
- A mental health condition (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression)
- A traumatic brain injury
- Intellectual or developmental disability
- Individuals experiencing extreme difficulty adjusting and coping to the diagnosis • Individuals living in an institutional setting