University of Colorado Denver

PROJECT TITLE:
Native Elders, Dementia, and Family Caregiving 

FUNDING SOURCE: 
National Institute of Aging

DATES OF FUNDING: 
2001-2006

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR(S): 
Lori L. Jervis, Ph.D.

CENTER STAFF INVOLVED:
Lori L. Jervis, Ph.D., Spero M. Manson, Ph.D. 

This study has 3 Specific Aims:

1. to explore the cultural phenomenology of cognitive impairment within an American Indian community,
2. to test the acceptability and validity of a culturally modified dementia evaluation among Native elders, and
3. to examine family caregiving for older Natives with dementia, both its burdens and its gratifications.

1. Focus groups with Native elders, family caregivers, and health/social services providers to assess and modify measures for cultural relevance,
2. Interviews with 150 Native elders and 40 caregivers.   Along with structured measures, each interview has a semi-structured component designed to explore people’s experiences and the meanings they assign to them.

Elders who are clients of a senior nutrition program on a Northern Plains reservation and their family caregivers.

1. Selected questions from AI-SUPERPFP's demographic module
2. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)
3. Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (MDRS)
4. Caregiver Screener
5. Debriefing Questions
6. Semi-Structured Interview Guide

1. Selected questions from AI-SUPERPFP's demographic module
2. Semi-Structured Interview Guide
3. Burden Interview
4. Picot Caregiver Reward Scale

Data collection for this project has not yet begun.