Major and Classification
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Faculty Mentor
Freddi Segal-Gidan, Ph.D.
Department
Keck: Neurology
McNair Project
“The Perceptions of Dementia among Latinos”
Project Abstract
Symptoms of dementia include an inability to perform activities of daily living, and neuropsychiatric features (Overshott & Burns, 2008). Dementia affects 800,000 people in the UK and 4 million people in America, and thus research in this realm is critical in order to forestall the onset of dementia. However, it is also crucial to ascertain how cultural norms in different communities impact the likelihood that individuals seek help for dementia. In this study, we investigated how Latinos perceive dementia. The results of surveys that questioned participants about dementia and possible diagnoses and treatments revealed that although there is relatively limited information regarding dementia, people recognize the need to seek help when possible symptoms arise.