2024 Alzheimer's Association Research Grant to Promote Diversity (AARG-D)

Going Home: Reminiscence Intervention for Asian Immigrants with Dementia

How can a program to encourage reminiscing about previous homes improve the quality of life for Asian immigrants with dementia?

Yura Lee, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI - United States

Background

While Asian Americans make up a small part of the U.S. population, they have a higher risk of dementia—Asian older adults account for more than 8% of dementia, despite being less than 6% of the nation’s population.

Reminiscence therapy - prompting individuals to share life stories and recall memories - has been found to benefit individuals with dementia.  It can help people feel more connected to the present, remember who they are, and improve their relationships. The combination of virtual reality with reminiscence therapy may be beneficial to immigrants with dementia, which would allow them to remember and virtually visit their former homes together with their family and caregivers.

Research Plan

Dr. Yura Lee and colleagues will create a new reminiscence therapy program called 'Going Home' for Asian immigrants with dementia. This program will use virtual reality technology to recreate the former home of people with dementia—places that held many memories.

The study will include people with dementia and their family caregivers. The researchers will collect information about each individual’s demographics and dementia. Then individuals with dementia will work together with researchers to reconstruct a virtual former home based on their memories. They'll talk about their experiences at that home and share stories. The program will have six weekly sessions over six weeks. At the end of each session, the researchers will collect feedback from the families on their experience with the intervention, such as whether it improved communication and connection.

Impact

This project could help Asian immigrants with dementia feel more connected to their past and improve their quality of life. It could also lead to the development of more culturally relevant dementia care programs.