Conceptions of Dementia in a Multiethnic Sample of Family Caregivers

This cross-sectional study examined conceptions of dementia in 92 family caregivers for persons with dementia from four ethnic/racial groups: African-American, Anglo European-American, Asian-American, and Latino. In-depth interviews explored participants' ideas about the nature and cause of dementia, known as explanatory models. These explanatory models were categorized as biomedical, folk, or mixed (folk and biomedical). Overall, 54 percent of caregivers held mixed explanatory models. Although minority and nonminority caregivers often incorporated folk models into their understanding of dementia, this was more common in minority caregivers and those with less formal education.

Hinton L, Franz CE, Yeo G, Levkoff SE. Conceptions of dementia in a multiethnic sample of family caregivers. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2005 August;53(8):1405-1410.