Dementia Knowledge Among Hispanic Family Caregivers

The Health Projects Center (HPC) was established in 1980 as a non-profit corporation serving Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito Counties. HPC offers programs to health and social service professionals, older adults, and family caregivers. At HPC many caregivers experience health problems associated with caregiving distress. To address this concern, “Dementia Knowledge Among Hispanic Caregivers” was implemented, to determine the effectiveness of the Caregiver Support Group at HPC. This group consisted of caregivers of Mexican descent, whose primary language is Spanish, who are caring for a loved one who suffers from dementia or a cognitive disorder. In order to assess caregivers’ knowledge of dementia and stress, a questionnaire was used. The expected outcome was for all participants to recognize the symptoms of dementia and to recognize when they are under stress. The questions were read aloud for the participants to ensure there were no language barriers. The findings were that 66.67% recognize symptoms of Alzheimer’s and even though, 83.33% recognized when they were under stress, only 50% practiced self-care. There are three recommendations for the agency, including implementing a session in the support group that focuses more on enhancing the caregiver’s knowledge on different stages of dementia. Additionally, it is recommended to have two groups, one for experienced caregivers and the other for new caregivers. Finally, all caregivers could use more support on how to actually practice self-care