South Asian older adults with memory impairment: improving assessment and access to dementia care

Abstract

To improve access for these groups, service users and providers need to be better informed; services need to be more culturally tailored, sometimes employing staff with similar cultural backgrounds; and health professionals can benefit from dementia education and knowledge of local services. These factors are key to the delivery of the National Dementia Strategy in England.

Perceptions of self-defined memory problems vary in south Asian minority older people who consult a GP and those who do not: a mixed-method pilot study

“…Access can be inhibited at any stage from early identification of symptoms and approaching a health care professional, through to recognition, appropriate diagnosis and referral to a specialist for assessment and treatment. A recent literature review mapped barriers and facilitators to access for South Asians with memory problems onto Goldberg and Huxley's model (Giebel et al, 2015c). This, Manchester Pathways Model, employs the filters of the original model to identify barriers experienced at three levels: (i) patient, carer and community; (ii) health professional; and (iii) the structure and type of services.…”

Evaluation of a carers' information programme culturally adapted for South Asian families

“…IPSAF was also found to have an impact on carer coping, validating the need for carers to look after themselves to continue to care effectively and providing much needed peer support. This latter aspect may be particularly important in south Asian communities, given the isolation that may be experienced due to the high levels of stigma attached to dementia diagnosis and the lack of accessible culturally suitable services …”

“…given the isolation that may be experienced due to the high levels of stigma attached to dementia diagnosis and the lack of accessible culturally suitable services. 7,8 Perhaps the most significant impact of IPSAF on families was their greater awareness of available services. Families made use of this knowledge to seek support with financial and legal matters.…”

“…Despite the growing prevalence of dementia in minority ethnic populations, evidence suggests such groups remain under‐represented in specialist dementia services . This may be due to lack of awareness of dementia in minority ethnic groups, with memory problems being viewed as a normal part of ageing . Willis et al, Parveen et al, and Greenwood et al report a number of perceived barriers for minority ethnic communities accessing services, such as navigating complex social care pathways, language barriers, cultural stigma, lack of community‐based services, concerns about cultural and religious appropriateness of services, and culturally preferred coping strategies.…”

Costs of formal and informal care at home for people with dementia: ‘Expert panel’ opinions from staff and informal carers

“…On the other hand, paid carers were more likely to suggest additional assessments by speech and language therapists or dieticians for example, which possibly is due to their being more informed and aware of these services. By contrast, carers, and people with dementia, are frequently reported to lack awareness of services as well as the knowledge on how to access these (Giebel et al, 2015b;Sutcliffe et al, 2015).…”