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Older woman and care partner hold hands
Project
Project Type - Pilot Projects

Family stigma and caregiver burden in early onset dementia

Analyzing the impact of stigma and socioeconomics on familial caregivers
Latin America & Caribbean

Overview

The genetic, neuroimaging, clinical features and biomarkers of the early onset dementia in Antioquia Colombia have been extensively described. Nevertheless, there is a remaining gap in the knowledge regarding the associations among stigma, socioeconomic factors and the main caregiver’s outcomes. Relatives and carriers of genetic conditions that predispose to dementia are exposed to stigma. Levy (2009) developed the Stereotype Embodiment Theory, suggesting the longer a person is exposed to negative stereotypes, the greater the impact on health outcomes.

Project Details

Affiliate stigma is an important and potentially modifiable contributor to caregiver burden which remains scarcely addressed by quantitative and generalizable methods, and represents a central issue for genetic populations at risk of developing Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease (EOAD). Previous studies demonstrated that devoting care for relatives with dementia itself doesn't only lead to depression, anxiety, burden or low quality of life, but also some modifiable factors such as income inadequacy, lack of community-based long term care services, unemployment and low education are strongly associated with those outcomes. Thus, we aim to analyze the impact of stigma and socioeconomics on familial caregiver of patients with EOAD and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) in Antioquia. To obtain this information is paramount to better characterize this unique population and identifying what kind of support is most needed, designing tailored interventions as well as for advocacy in promoting health policies.