Mapping racial and ethnic healthcare disparities for persons living with dementia: A scoping review
January 24, 2024
Members of IMPACT’s Health Equity team authored a scoping review article exploring the literature on racial and ethnic disparities for persons living with dementia. Ladson Hinton, MD, Kate Peak, MPH, and Ana Quiñones, PhD, MS, addressed how and an older and more diverse American population requires new approaches to dementia care to address racial and ethnical health disparities. The research literature has shown that people of color face discrimination when seeking health care for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). Black Americans reported the highest level of discrimination in dementia health care, followed by Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans. These populations reported higher rates of discrimination when seeking health care than non-Hispanic White Americans. Stigma, cultural differences, awareness, and understanding about AD/ADRD contribute to these disparities. The authors illustrated that future studies are needed to understand the underlying causes of and ways to mitigate dementia care health disparities.