# Alzheimer's care management in minority groups: Identifying warning signs and crisis points in transitions from informal to formal care management in African American and Latino populations

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE · 2020 · $179,446

## Abstract

Project Abstract
Alzheimer's is a growing concern in Hispanic and African American populations, with increased incidence and
earlier age of onset as compared to the non-Hispanic White population. Informal caregivers provide the
majority of care for patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD),with Hispanic and African American caregivers
accessing formal care systems less frequently and at later stages compared to non-Hispanic White families.
Community organizations serving persons with Alzheimer's in Milwaukee county long recognize the lag in
informal care systems transitioning primary care management to formal paid care, waiting until a crisis in
inability to provide care, and/or inability to maintain the health and safety for the patient within the informal care
system occurs. However, it is unclear what early warning signs preceded the crisis and what formal care
providers, including physicians, social work, nursing, family workers and dementia care specialists, know about
warning signs and crisis in these families. Data and discussions from a multi-stakeholder community coalition
suggest that formal and informal systems of care may diverge in their interpretation of early warning signs,
crisis points and cultural considerations around care transitions. Thus assessing what both the caregiver and
healthcare professional know about early warning signs and how both groups interpret this information will
inform the development of culturally adapted, pre-crisis interventions. This study aims to identify both family
and formal care providers' views of care transitions, warning signs and care crisis points, and where
their views of these situations both converge and diverge. The proposed study will collect family and
service provider level data from up to 240 African American and Hispanic family caregivers (including adult and
youth key informants), and 50 service providers recruited through a community coalition, including the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Medical College of Wisconsin, The United Community Center, Alzheimer's
Association and Milwaukee County Department on Aging. This study will be the first to identify culturally
relevant warning signs to guide the development of culturally adapted informal and formal educational
interventions with African American and Hispanic communities, designed to avert care crises. It will also
nuance the caregiving paradigm through the inclusion of youth caregivers, providing the first insight into the
youth view of caregiving transitions and what they see as warning signs and crisis points, adding dimension to
informal caregiving knowledge and programming. The proposed study engages several community-based
service providers, focusing on the need to understanding cultural issues in caregiving through the lens of
organizations that are accessed and trusted by the target population. Results will contribute to the NIA mission
to improve the well-being of AD patients and caregivers by developing a better understa...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9849713
- **Project number:** 5R21AG061307-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE
- **Principal Investigator:** MELINDA S KAVANAUGH
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $179,446
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-01-15 → 2022-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9849713

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9849713, Alzheimer's care management in minority groups: Identifying warning signs and crisis points in transitions from informal to formal care management in African American and Latino populations (5R21AG061307-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9849713. Licensed CC0.

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