Dementia Care with Black and Latino Families

As America's population ages and becomes more ethnically diverse, there is growing need for social workers to treat not only individuals afflicted with dementia and their families, but to also understand this illness through the eyes of different ethnic groups. This comprehensive volume provides practical guidance for social work professionals working with Black and Latino families living with the daily challenges of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. It is grounded in the interpretation and meaning of dementia in Black and Latino cultural heritages, and based on both a solid theoretical framework and the substantial research and clinical expertise of the authors. Chapters include an overview of the epidemiology and clinical course of dementia with a focus on those forms of the disease most common to Blacks and Latinos; an exploration of underlying family care and role responsibilities in ethnic families, self-efficacy and cognitive behavioral problem solving theories as modalities of choice, useful assessment and organizational tools for work with ethnic family caregivers, and how to best implement four specific types of interventions. Key features: Provides concrete, targeted interventions for assisting ethnic family care givers in confronting day-to-day issues Explains how and why self-efficacy and cognitive behavioral problem solving theories are particularly useful for social work with ethnic family care givers Offers detailed, step-by-step guide to assessment and intervention Includes problem solving forms, documents and additional dementia care resources Contains supporting case studies in each chapter

Delia J. González Sanders, PhD, LCSW is an Assistant Professor at Central Connecticut State University, Department of Social Work, Research Associate II & Co-Investigator at the Center on Aging, University of Connecticut Health Center and an adjunct professor at Smith College School for Social Work in Northampton, Massachusetts. Dr. González Sanders' research interests include diverse caregivers of Alzheimer's disease and related irreversible dementia; eliminating health disparities among Latinos and other ethnically diverse populations; cultural competence in social work; translating social work research into clinical practice; examining Latino caregiver problem solving and resilience. ||Richard H. Fortinsky, PhD is Professor of Medicine at the Center on Aging and Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center School of Medicine, where he holds the Physicians Health Services Endowed Chair in Geriatrics and Gerontology. He received a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar Award in 2007 to lecture and conduct research on the organization of care for people with dementia and their families in the north of England. He is an Honorary Visiting Professor at the Division of Dementia Studies, School of Health Studies, at University of Bradford, England. Dr. Fortinsky has published widely in professional journals (J. Am Geriartic Soc, Dementia, Gerontologist, J Community Health,etc) and as a book chapter author with such publishers as Guilford, Delmar, Open University Press.