The authors investigated longitudinally bereavement in mothers and fathers whose children died of cancer. Thirty-one parents were interviewed 6 and 18 months post-death. Analyses revealed parental differences and changes over time: (a) employment--fathers were more work-focused; (b) grief reactions--mothers expressed more intense grief reactions that lessened over time; (c) coping--mothers were more child-focused, fathers more task-focused; (d) relationship with bereaved siblings-mothers actively nurtured relationship with child; (e) spousal relationship--parents reported diversity in their relationship over time; and (f) relationship with extended family--mothers maintained contact with extended family more. Findings illustrate parental differences in bereavement over time that might be partly socially determined. These findings emphasize the need for tailoring bereavement support services in the family.

We investigated longitudinally parental perceptions of siblings' bereavement after childhood cancer death. Parents were interviewed 6 months (n = 25) and 18 months (n = 75) post-death. Data are analyzed combined and over time. The following themes emerged: (a) expression of grief missing deceased child (verbally, crying), behavioral problems, difficulty understanding the meaning of death (pre-schoolers), and avoiding talking with parents about feelings (adolescents); (b) what helps siblings grief moving on, talking about deceased child and social support; (c) relationship with parents improved for most siblings; and (d) bond with deceased sibling: pretend-play (preschoolers), dreaming, and career choices (adolescents). Over time, themes reflected stability and change.

Background: Hispanics in the United Statues are disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Little is known about the impact of acculturation on cognitive performance. Objective: This study examined the association between acculturation and cognitive performance among older Hispanics. Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional data of 616 Hispanic participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2014 [average age = 67.15 years, %Female = 51.46, %less than high-school graduate = 52.60]. Cognitive performance was measured by two neuropsychological tests: Animal Fluency Test (AFT) and Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). We used two single-item proxy measures to quantify acculturation: nativity status (non-US-born residing <  15 years in the US (low acculturation), non-US-born residing ≥15 years in the US, and US-born (high acculturation)); and language acculturation (only/mostly Spanish (low acculturation), Spanish and English, only/mostly English (high acculturation)). We used adjusted linear regression to evaluate associations between acculturation and cognitive performance. Results: Results indicated poorer cognitive performance among the low-acculturated groups for both nativity and linguistic measures. Participants who were non-US-born living ≥15 years (p = 0.02) and speaking only/mostly Spanish or Spanish and English (p = 0.01 and 0.006 respectively) had significantly lower AFT scores compared to US-born and only/mostly English-speaking groups. Participants who were non-US-born living <  15 years (p <  0.0001) or non-US-born living ≥15 years (p <  0.0001) and speaking only/mostly Spanish (p = 0.0008) scored lower on the DSST than the US-born and only/mostly English-speaking participants. Conclusion: In summary, low acculturation is associated with poorer cognitive performance among older Hispanics. Acculturation might be an important attribute to help understand cognitive decline and dementias among Hispanics.

The current increase in global dementia prevalence deserves public health intervention. While limited access to health care and a shortage of health care workers are significant shortcomings, utilizing community health workers (CHWs) could be a promising way to improve dementia care through cost-effective approaches. This scoping review synthesizes existing research on roles of CHWs in dementia-related services. PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, CABI Global Health, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library were searched from inception to October 2, 2019, and yielded 1,594 articles. Five broad areas emerged as potential roles of CHWs from 10 eligible articles: educational and community awareness, screening for dementia, screening for HIV-associated dementia, utilization of health care systems and other dementia-related resources by patients, and services to dementia caregivers. This scoping review sheds light on important contributions of CHWs in addressing dementia among vulnerable communities/groups around the world.

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