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Elderly Latinos are disproportionately at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Poor, urban Latinos with low English proficiency and low literacy delay diagnosis and entry into ADRD care due to stigma and lack of ADRD knowledge. Therefore there is a need for culturally and linguistically-sensitive health education materials to address knowledge gaps about cognitive health and dementia among this growing group of patients. Within the field of health education, collaborating closely with family members, community residents, and service providers in the development and testing of culturally and linguistically-sensitive health education interventions is an established and growing trend, as is the use of health education videos, videos that use consumers as collaborators and co-producers, and videos infused with entertainment education strategies.. For example, Borrayo (2004) created a video to educate Latinas about breast cancer awareness and mammography screening, Cabassas (2012) created a foto-novela (graphic novel) to educate Latinos about depression, and Valle (2006) created one to educate Latinos about dementia. Entertainment-education strategies have been used in culturally and linguistically sensitive ways to address the knowledge gaps and health and mental health education needs of US Latinos. However, to date, few programs or specific interventions have been designed to educate and to simultaneously engage urban poor Latino elderly with low English proficiency and low literacy levels in cognitive health literacy education interventions that may also help to engage this vulnerable population in services.
Methods:
Using a CBPR framework, focus groups, and qualitative methods, this pilot explored and identified the dementia health literacy needs and preferred health communication methods of Spanish-speaking /low English proficiency Latino senior center participants in an urban under-resourced community. In addition this pilot explored the feasibility of collaboratively producing culturally informed and linguistically sensitive health education videos about memory and aging in Spanish with the input of Latino seniors.
Results
Guided by CBPR, a 2.5 minute health education video was produced in Spanish by the Memory Productions Community Collaborative Board, a group of Latino seniors and a team of social work researchers and clinicians integrating Spanish-speaking older adults as partners and co-investigators in the development of best practices to inform their peers about cognitive health. The older adults developed the screenplay based on their experiences of why peers are reluctant to participate in memory screens. One common misperception: wires need to be attached to your head. Older adults also served as actors and executive producers. The video has been screened to enthusiastic response from Latino older adults.
Conclusions and Implications:
Our findings confirmed the need for health education materials to address multiple misperceptions associated with the diagnosis and treatment of memory disorders, and confirmed the feasibility of engaging Latino seniors in the collaborative production of a health education video in Spanish about memory and aging, using entertainment education strategies. Next steps include systematic roll-out of the video in communities with large populations of Latino older adults, and tracking of viewers to see if they follow up with memory screens.