2021 Alzheimer's Association Clinician Scientist Fellowship (AACSF)

Serving the unmet needs of Spanish language family dementia caregivers

Can a virtual intervention tool help improve overall wellbeing of Hispanic/Latino caregivers?
 

Liliana Ramirez Gomez, M.D.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA - United States

Background

According to the 2021 Alzheimer’s Facts and Figures report, studies indicate that Hispanics/Latinos are about one and one-half times more likely to develop dementia as older whites. However, studies show that there may be few scientifically validated, culturally acceptable resources for Spanish language caregivers. 

Dr. Liliana Ramirez Gomez and colleagues recently developed a pilot project to study a virtual mindfulness intervention (called Mentalizing Imagery Therapy or MIT) for Hispanic/Latino family dementia caregivers. The researchers found that the intervention may be able to reduce depression in participants and could develop improvements in perceived cognitive function. In addition, based on participant anecdotes, Dr. Ramirez Gomez’s team identified other areas where caregivers could use additional support, such as the need for providing training in caregiver skills.
 

Research Plan

Building on their initial findings, Dr. Ramirez Gomez and colleagues will develop and test a comprehensive, virtual intervention for Hispanic/Latino caregivers by leveraging participants from an already ongoing study called the Boston Latino Aging Study (BLAST). For their project, the researchers will conduct virtual focus groups with twelve Spanish language family caregivers from BLAST. The researchers will provide practical information about dementia and caregiver skills training in addition to MIT. All these resources will be accessible via smartphone. Finally, Dr. Ramirez Gomez and colleagues will study whether their virtual intervention approach may be able to better reduce depression and stress in caregivers compared to the virtual psychosocial support intervention.

Impact

The study results could help identify gaps in caregiver support of family dementia caregivers among Hispanics/Latinos. The findings could be used to develop a culturally sensitive virtual intervention tool to better support the overall well-being of Hispanic/Latino family caregivers.