Referral Sources Across Racial and Ethnic Groups at Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers.

Background: Despite the need to increase engagement of underrepresented groups (URG) in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) studies, enrollment remains low.

Objective: Compare referral sources across racial and ethnic groups among participants enrolled in ADRC studies.

Methods: Data for this cross-sectional secondary analysis were extracted from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set.

Factors Associated With Healthcare and Financial Decision Making Among Older Black Adults Without Dementia.

Objectives: The study aims to identify factors associated with health care and financial decision-making among older Black adults without dementia.

Methods: Participants ( = 326) underwent assessments of decision-making and completed measurements of factors from four categories: cognitive, contextual, psychosocial, and personality. We performed separate linear regression models to examine the association between each factor and decision-making and created a fully adjusted model.

Written communication and the ICU team experience (WRITE): A pre-post intervention study.

Objective: Families of critically ill patients may benefit from receiving a written update of patient care each day. Our objective was to develop a system to facilitate care provider creation of written updates and to determine the effect of implementing this process on the care provider experience.

Design: The experiences of ICU care providers (nurses, advanced practice providers, and physicians) were measured monthly during a 3-month pre-intervention and a 3-month intervention period.

Health and Financial Literacy and the Acquisition of COVID-19 Knowledge in Older Adults.

Knowledge about COVID-19 enters into many aspects of decision making, especially for older people who are at increased risk of severe disease or death. Yet little is known about the resources that supported older people's uptake of COVID-19 knowledge. Here, we hypothesized that higher pre-pandemic health and financial literacy was associated with higher COVID-19 knowledge.

A randomised controlled trial of the () intervention to improve dementia family caregivers' self-efficacy with complex care.

Background: Nearly two-thirds of family caregivers of persons living with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias (AD/ADRD) provide complex care, including medical care. Family caregivers typically receive little to no training on how to provide this care. Furthermore, family caregivers simultaneously grapple with the presence of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), diminished communication abilities, and comorbidities such as diabetes.

A randomised controlled trial of the Learning Skills Together (LST) intervention to improve dementia family caregivers' self-efficacy with complex care.

Background: Nearly two-thirds of family caregivers of persons living with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias (AD/ADRD) provide complex care, including medical care. Family caregivers typically receive little to no training on how to provide this care. Furthermore, family caregivers simultaneously grapple with the presence of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), diminished communication abilities, and comorbidities such as diabetes.

Racial and ethnic differences in plasma biomarker eligibility for a preclinical Alzheimer's disease trial.

Introduction: In trials of amyloid-lowering drugs for Alzheimer's disease (AD), differential eligibility may contribute to under-inclusion of racial and ethnic underrepresented groups. We examined plasma amyloid beta 42/40 and positron emission tomography (PET) amyloid eligibility for the ongoing AHEAD Study preclinical AD program (NCT04468659).

Methods: Univariate logistic regression models were used to examine group differences in plasma and PET amyloid screening eligibility.

Promoting diverse perspectives: Addressing health disparities related to Alzheimer's and all dementias.

Dementia research lacks appropriate representation of diverse groups who often face substantial adversity and greater risk of dementia. Current research participants are primarily well-resourced, non-Hispanic White, cisgender adults who live close to academic medical centers where much of the research is based. Consequently, the field faces a knowledge gap about Alzheimer's-related risk factors in those other groups.

Clinician-initiated written communication for families of patients at a long-term acute care hospital.

Objective: To assess the experience of families and clinicians at a long term acute care hospital (LTACH) after implementing a written communication intervention.

Methods: Written communication templates were developed for six clinical disciplines. LTACH clinicians used templates to describe the condition of 30 mechanically ventilated patients at up to three time points.

Financial Risk Aversion Among Older Black and White Adults.

Objectives: Risk aversion has a substantial impact on decision making and is associated with key demographic characteristics. However, few studies have investigated whether risk aversion varies by race.

Methods: We investigated racial differences in financial risk aversion in 684 older Black and White adults without dementia in the Minority Aging Research Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project matched for age, education, sex, and cognition using Mahalanobis distance.

Development of a Culturally Adapted Dietary Intervention to Reduce Alzheimer's Disease Risk among Older Black Adults.

The objective of this study is to identify and understand knowledge and attitudes that influence dietary practices among older Black adults using a community-engaged approach. This is a non-interventional mixed methods study designed to inform the development of an adapted brain-healthy soul food diet intervention. A purposive sampling approach was used to conduct seven semi-structured focus group discussions and an online quantitative survey.

Well-Being and Aging-Related Decline in Financial and Health Literacy in Advanced Age.

Objectives: Emerging evidence suggests that financial and health literacy deteriorates in advanced age. By contrast, well-being promotes health in aging. This study tested the hypothesis that well-being is associated with slower aging-related literacy decline.

Stability and change in acculturation-related characteristics in older Latinos: Implications for culturally compatible ADRD research.

Introduction: Acculturation-related characteristics, that is, factors directly connected to culture and familial relationships, are associated with engaged research participation within Latino communities. Despite this, little empirical data exists on whether acculturation changes over time in older Latinos, which has potential implications for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) research study design including longer duration clinical trial implementation.

Methods: Self-identified Latinos ( = 222; mean age = 71, 76% female) participating in one of three ongoing longitudinal community-based cohort studies of aging who reported their nativity outside of the United States/District of Columbia (US/DC) contributed, on average, 4.

Psychological Well-being Relates to Healthcare and Financial Decision Making in a Study of Predominantly White Older Adults.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypotheses that psychological well-being is associated with healthcare and financial decision making in older adults and that this association varies by the level of cognitive function. Participants were 1082 older adults (97% non-Latino White; 76% women; mean age = 81.04 years; SD = 7.

Symptoms of Anxiety, Depression, and Stress among Families of Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19: A Longitudinal Clinical Trial.

Families of critically ill patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) may be at particularly high risk for anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder after hospital discharge. To assess symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress among families of patients with COVID-19 during and after intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and to use qualitative methods to determine the sources of emotional distress. Families of patients with COVID-19 who participated in an ICU study were approached for participation in this post-hospital discharge study.

A Qualitative Examination of Knowledge, Experiences, and Considerations of PET Brain Scan Participation Among Older Black and Latino Adults.

Background: Biological biomarkers yielded from positron emission tomography (PET) brain scans serve as a pathway to understanding Alzheimer's disease pathology. PET brain scan data remain limited for populations traditionally under-included in aging research.

Objective: The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine participant-identified barriers to PET brain scan consent and characterize participant-informed elements of educational materials needed to facilitate PET brain scan participation among older Black and Latino adults.

Social Engagement and All-Cause Mortality: A Focus on Participants of the Minority Aging Research Study.

Introduction: Social engagement is known to improve health; less is known about whether social activities at the core of African American life decrease mortality risk in this minoritized population. This study investigated whether and which aspects of social engagement predict mortality risk in older African Americans.

Methods: Data from 768 African Americans (aged ∼73 years; nondemented at baseline) participating in the Minority Aging Research Study, a longitudinal community-based, cohort study of aging, was collected between 2004 and 2020 and analyzed in 2020.

Childhood socioeconomic status interacts with cognitive function to impact scam susceptibility among community-dwelling older adults.

Objectives: We examined whether childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is related to scam susceptibility in old age and tested the hypothesis that childhood SES interacts with cognitive function to impact scam susceptibility.

Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional design. All data were collected in participants' community-based residences.

Daily Written Care Summaries for Families of Critically Ill Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: To determine the effect of daily written updates on the satisfaction and psychologic symptoms of families of ICU patients.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Single, urban academic medical center.

Purpose in Life and Cognition Interact to Impact Healthcare and Financial Decision Making in Old Age.

Little is known about the contribution of positive psychological factors, such as purpose in life, to healthcare and financial decision making in aging. Here, we examined the relationship between purpose and decision making and tested the hypothesis that purpose benefits decision making, particularly when cognition is limited. Participants were 1081 community-based older adults without dementia.

Establishing a Framework for Gathering Structural and Social Determinants of Health in Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers.

Structural and social determinants of health (SSDoH) are environmental conditions in which individuals are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes across the life course. Growing evidence suggests that SSDoH can help to explain heterogeneity in outcomes in Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) research and clinical practice. The National Institute on Aging has prioritized collecting SSDoH data to elucidate disease mechanisms and aid discovery of disease-modifying treatments.

Correlates of perceived stress among community-dwelling older African Americans.

Background: The purpose of this study was to identify correlates of perceived stress among older African Americans.

Methods And Findings: Guided by the National Institute on Aging's (NIA) Health Disparities Research Framework, we grouped correlates into four levels-environmental, sociocultural, behavioral, and biological, and performed a cross-sectional analysis using ordinal logistic regression models. Participants included 722 African Americans [mean age = 73.