Evaluating the impact of an educational intervention on the history of racism in America for teaching structural competency to medical academicians.

BACKGROUND: A challenge facing many Academic Health Centers (AHCs) attempting to revise health professions education to include the impact of racism as a social and structural determinant of health (SSDoH) is a lack of broad faculty expertise to reinforce and avoid undermining learning modules addressing this topic. To encourage an institutional culture that is in line with new anti-racism instruction, we developed a six-part educational series on the history of racism in America and its impact on contemporary health inequities for teaching structural competency to health professions academicians. METHODS: We developed a six-hour elective continuing education (CE) series for faculty and staff with the following objectives: (1) describe and discuss race as a social construct; (2) describe and discuss the decolonization of the health sciences and health care; (3) describe and discuss the history of systemic racism and structural violence from a socio-ecological perspective; and (4) describe and discuss reconciliation and repair in biomedicine. The series was spread over a six-month period and each monthly lecture was followed one week later by an open discussion debriefing session. Attendees were assessed on their understanding of each objective before and after each series segment. RESULTS: We found significant increases in knowledge and understanding of each objective as the series progressed. Attendees reported that the series helped them grapple with their discomfort in a constructive manner. Self-selected attendees were overwhelmingly women (81.8%), indicating a greater willingness to engage with this material than men. CONCLUSIONS: The series provides a model for AHCs looking to promote anti-racism and structural competency among their faculty and staff.

Acceptability and Preliminary Effectiveness of a Remote Dementia Educational Training Among Primary Care Providers and Health Navigators.

BACKGROUND: Optimal care can improve lives of families with dementia but remains under-implemented. Most healthcare professional training is in person, time-intensive, and does not focus on key aspects such as early detection, and cultural competency. OBJECTIVE: We explored the acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a training, The Dementia Update Course, which addressed these issues. We hypothesized that the training would lead to increased levels of perceived dementia care competency among key healthcare workers, namely primary care providers (PCPs) and health navigators (HNs). METHODS: We conducted pre-post training assessments among 22 PCPs and 32 HNs. The 6.5-h training was remote, and included didactic lectures, case discussion techniques, and materials on dementia detection and care. Outcomes included two 5-point Likert scales on acceptability, eleven on perceived dementia care competency, and the three subscales of the General Practitioners Confidence and Attitude Scale for Dementia. We used paired samples t-tests to assess the mean differences in all preliminary effectiveness outcomes. RESULTS: The training included 28.6% of PCPs and 15.6% of HNs that self-identified as non-White or Latino and 45.5% of PCPs and 21.9% of HNs who served in rural areas. PCPs (84.2%) and HNs (91.7%) reported a high likelihood to recommend the training and high satisfaction. Most preliminary effectiveness outcomes analyzed among PCPs (11/14) and all among HNs (8/8) experienced an improvement from pre- to post-training (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: A relatively brief, remote, and inclusive dementia training was associated with high levels of acceptability and improvements in perceived dementia care competency among PCPs and HNs.

Effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions on cognitive function among non-demented African American and Latino older adults in the USA: a scoping review.

OBJECTIVE: African Americans and Latinos/Hispanics have a higher prevalence of dementia compared to non-Latino Whites. This scoping review aims to synthesize non-pharmaceutical interventions to delay or slow age-related cognitive decline among cognitively healthy African American and Latino older adults. DESIGN: A literature search for articles published between January 2000 and May 2019 was performed using the databases PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Web of Science. Relevant cited references and grey literature were also reviewed. Four independent reviewers evaluated 1,181 abstracts, and full-article screening was subsequently performed for 145 articles. The scoping review consisted of eight studies, which were evaluated according to the peer-reviewed original manuscript, non-pharmaceutical intervention, cognitive function as an outcome, separate reporting of results for African American and Latinos, minimum age of 40, and conducted in the US. A total of 8 studies were considered eligible and were analyzed in the present scoping review. RESULTS: Eight studies were identified. Four studies focused on African Americans and four focused on Latinos. Through the analysis, results indicated cognitive training-focused interventions were effective in improving memory, executive function, reasoning, visuospatial, psychological function, and speed among African Americans. Exercise interventions were effective in improving cognition among Latinos. CONCLUSION: This scoping review identified effective non-pharmaceutical interventions among African American and Latinos. Effective interventions focused on cognitive training alone for African Americans and exercise combined with group educational sessions for Latinos. Future research should explore developing culturally appropriate non-pharmaceutical interventions to reduce disparities and to enhance cognition among older African American and Latinos.

Risk of mild cognitive impairment among older adults in the United States by ethnoracial group.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among a wide range of ethnoracial groups in the US. DESIGN: Non-probabilistic longitudinal clinical research. SETTING: Participants enrolling into the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Unified Data Set recruited via multiple approaches including clinician referral, self-referral by patients or family members, or active recruitment through community organizations. PARTICIPANTS: Cognitively normal individuals 55 and older at the initial visit, who reported race and ethnicity information, with at least two visits between September 2005 and November 2018. MEASUREMENTS: Ethnoracial information was self-reported and grouped into non-Latino Whites, Asian Americans, Native Americans, African Americans (AAs), and individuals simultaneously identifying as AAs and another minority race (AA+), as well as Latinos of Caribbean, Mexican, and Central/South American origin. MCI was evaluated clinically following standard criteria. Four competing risk analysis models were used to calculate MCI risk adjusting for risk of death, including an unadjusted model, and models adjusting for non-modifiable and modifiable risk factors. RESULTS: After controlling for sex and age at initial visit, subhazard ratios of MCI were statistically higher than non-Latino Whites among Native Americans (1.73), Caribbean Latinos (1.80), and Central/South American Latinos (1.55). Subhazard ratios were higher among AA+ compared to non-Latino Whites only in the model controlling for all risk factors (1.40). CONCLUSION: Compared to non-Latino Whites, MCI risk was higher among Caribbean and South/Central American Latinos as well as Native Americans and AA+. The factors explaining the differential MCI risk among ethnoracial groups are not clear and warrant future research.

Preliminary Efficacy of a Recruitment Educational Strategy on Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge, Research Participation Attitudes, and Enrollment Among Hispanics.

INTRODUCTION: Hispanics remain underrepresented in dementia clinical research. This one-arm trial aimed to assess the preliminary efficacy of a culturally tailored recruitment educational strategy among Hispanic older adults on dementia knowledge, research participation attitudes, and enrollment. METHOD: The recruitment strategy included 6 one-session culturally tailored dementia education events at trusted community senior centers. Participants received a pre-post survey including a 5-point Likert-type scale and the Epidemiology/Etiology Disease Scale to assess dementia knowledge, and a 4-point Likert-type scale assessing research participation attitudes. We gave participants contact information slips to complete if interested in dementia research. We also tracked participants' enrollment into the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Cohort. RESULTS: Dementia knowledge increased 0.9 points (5-point Likert-type scale) and 2.2 points (epidemiology/etiology disease scale, p < .001). Interest in participating in dementia research increased from 61.7% to 80.9% (p = .039), 64.0% returned their contact information slips, and 41.1% successfully enrolled into the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Cohort. CONCLUSION: A recruitment strategy including culturally tailored dementia education improves dementia knowledge, research participation attitudes, and enrollment among Hispanic older adults.

Perceptions of health among Black adults living in a diverse urban community.

OBJECTIVE: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's culture of health initiative advocates for making health a shared value. Health cannot be a shared value without an understanding of how health is defined and perceived. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to examine community members' perceptions of health and influencing factors, including health care services. DESIGN AND SAMPLE: Data were collected through a purposive sample of nine focus groups with 52 participants who were primarily Black (94%) and female (65%). The mean age was 50 years. The average education was 14 years. Data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. RESULTS: Four themes were developed: health is resilience to deal with life's challenges describes health as necessary to deal with daily challenges; external perceptions affect community identity represents perceptions that other metropolitan counties are flourishing while this county remains depressed, negatively impacting individual and community identity; structural barriers negatively impact health describes a lack of adequate resources to achieve or maintain health, as defined by the participants; and mistrust influences health-seeking behaviors reflects perceptions of differential treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides unique information to nurses and other health care providers about urban-residing community members' perceptions of health and health care services. Providing a voice to residents regarding personal, family, and community health is imperative in making health a shared value to achieve the goals of population health, well-being, and equity.