Ethnic Differences in Perceptions of Alzheimer’s Disease

Implications for Seeking Assistance in Caring for an Ill Parent

Abstract

Purpose: To examine ethnic differences in ratings of 1) condition severity, 2) need for medical assistance, and 3) likelihood of hiring a Healthcare Advocate (HCA) for an ill, elderly parent as a function of 1) parent’s cognitive state (Alzheimer’s disease [AD] or cognitively healthy), 2) parent’s physical malady (hip fracture or heart attack), and 3) distance (near or far from the parent), with an emphasis on the interaction between ethnicity and cognitive state. Method: Nine-hundred-seventy-four individuals who identified as White, Black, Hispanic, or Asian/Pacific Islander read a hypothetical vignette about an older man. The man’s physical malady (heart attack or hip fracture), cognitive state (AD or no AD), and physical distance from a close family member were manipulated in the vignette. Participants rated the severity of the medical condition and their likelihood of hiring an HCA. Results: Black and Asian/Pacific Islander participants did not differ from White participants on any outcomes. Unlike White participants, Hispanic participants did not rate the older man’s condition as more severe and were not more likely to seek assistance when he had AD than when he was cognitively healthy. Conclusion: Ethnic differences in perceptions of AD may be less extensive than previously thought. The medical severity of AD did not appear to be recognized among the Hispanic participants in our sample, suggesting that culturallysensitive AD education may be particularly important in this subgroup.