Each March I wait eagerly for the Alzheimer's Association to publish their Facts and Figures Report -- and it's now out. Here are the links:
I want to see it as soon as it's available, because it gives us the latest reports on research, treatments, and models of how the disease actually works. This year however, covid-19 has put something of a lid on research, and there wasn't much to talk about there. However, the report did focus on something important: Race, Ethnicity and Alzheimer’s in America.
Why is this important? Minorities, especially African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans, have a higher incidence of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias than the rest of the population, but the focus of research and care options has largely been on people of European ancestry.
The report spends time on two issues: health disparities and health care disparities. A health disparity is "a higher burden of illness, injury, disability or mortality experienced by one group relative to another." A health care disparity is a "difference between groups in health insurance coverage, access to and use of care, and quality of care." Combined, they are "differences that are not explained by variations in health needs, patient preferences or treatment recommendations and are closely linked with social, economic and/or environmental disadvantage."
What I found interesting in the report was the variance in perceptions about how people of color fare in the health care system and perceptions regarding what the system does to aid people with dementia. Many care givers were concerned about people being used as research guinea pigs, and others were concerned they would receive the placebo in a drug trial. The latter is especially understandable, since a drug trial will eat up the precious few years someone might have for getting better with a successful drug.
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