Health Disparities in Alzheimer's Disease among African Americans

This article talks about the Alzheimer’s disease which is a growing public challenge not only for the health service workers and families but also to the policy-makers. The disease is linked to age particularly for the population aged 65 years and above. However, Alzheimer’s disease is prevalent among the racial and ethnic population like the African American. The objective of the article is to evaluate health disparities in the African American population as well as coming up with the recommendations to bridge the identified disparities and the risk factors.

Running Health: HEALTH DISPARITIES
Health Disparities
Students Name
University Affiliation
Date

HEALTH DISPARITIES 2
Health Disparities
Introduction
Even though disparity is normally interpreted largely to refer to ethnic or racial disparity,
numerous dimensions of disparity have been established in the united states of America,
especially in health (Clarke, Matthias and Julie 2017, 1). Disparity can be seen when the health
outcome is lesser or larger between the population. Disability, sex, age, sexual identity
geographic location, ethnicity or race, and socioeconomic status contributes to a person’s ability
to receive quality and good health (Stępkowski, Grażyna and Marcin 2015, 1-14). In this paper,
I will do a critical review of ‘Alzheimer’s Disease in African Americans: Risk Factors and
Challenges for the future’ by Barnes and Benett. I will discuss the health disparities in this
article, and the disparity intervention provided in the article.
Article Summary
This article talks about the Alzheimer’s disease which is a growing public challenge not
only for the health service workers and families but also to the policy-makers. The disease is
linked to age particularly for the population aged 65 years and above. However, Alzheimer’s
disease is prevalent among the racial and ethnic population like the African American (Barnes
and Bennett 2014, 580-586). African American are at high risk of suffering from dementia in
comparison to the non-Hispanic whites. However, much research has been conducted about the
Alzheimer’s disease among the non-Hispanic whites with few or no epidemiological research
among the African American population.
The objective of the article is to evaluate health disparities in the African American
population as well as coming up with the recommendations to bridge the identified disparities

HEALTH DISPARITIES 3
and the risk factors. The racial disparities in Alzheimer’s disease is high with the article stating
that the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease is three times higher in older African American than
the non-Hispanic whites of the age group. To reduce the racial disparities among African
American, the article proposes identifying the risk factors and the subsequent establishment of
treatment strategies. Genetics and age, vascular conditions, body mass index, psychological
factors like the higher levels of hemoglobin and psychological factors have been discussed as
risk factors. The researchers did not conduct empirical studies to come up with the data for
statistical analysis.
The relevance of the article to the challenges of addressing health disparity
The article points out that few epidemiological studies have been conducted on the
prevalence of cognitive impairment among the older African Americans as compared to the older
groups of the various ethnic groups. This has posed a great challenge in coming up with
intervention and treatment strategies for cognitive impairment (Fishman 2017, 1897–1919).
Another challenge is the poor performance of the African American on the conducted
Alzheimer’s disease tests as compared to their counterparts. The article has also identified the
risks that are important in addressing the intervention and treatment strategies.
Disparity interventions
According to my opinion, the article has come up with prudent interventions in
addressing the racial disparities that exist in Alzheimer’s disease. For instance, the first
intervention is the identification of the risk factors that enhance the prevalence of cognitive
impairment among older African American. The other important intervention is the retention as
well as the recruitment of the African American into the epidemiological research studies

HEALTH DISPARITIES 4
concerning cognitive impairment. This can be done by addressing the historical and cultural
barriers that have prevented their participation in such studies. The article has also suggested the
inclusion of the African American having no related impairments for cognitive impairment as the
clinical manifestations for individuals who do not have cognitive impairment can differ and a
provide vital information in dealing with the disease.
If I were to lead an investigation concerning reducing health disparity among the various
population in the united states of America on Alzheimer’s disease, I would also address the racial
disparities in the country. Like the article has stated, this is an area which has not been covered
by most epidemiological studies (Eshbaugh 2014, 655-665). Through performing such studies, I
will reduce the gap that exists between the various races. African Americans are the most
susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease, and most researches should be conducted concerning them.

HEALTH DISPARITIES 5
Reference list
Barnes, Lisa, L., and Bennett, David, A. 2014. Alzheimer’s Disease in African Americans: Risk
factors and challenges for the future. Doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2013.1353 HEALTH
AFFAIRS 33, NO. 4 (2014): 580–586
Clarke, Charlotte L., Sarah Rhynas, Matthias Schwannauer, and Julie Taylor. 2017. Risk and
Resilience : Global Learning Across the Age Span. Policy and Practice in Health and
Social Care. London: Dunedin Academic Press.
Eshbaugh, Elaine M. 2014. “Gaps in Alzheimer’s Knowledge Among College
Students.” Educational Gerontology 40 (9): 655–65.
doi:10.1080/03601277.2013.863573.
Fishman, Ezra. 2017. “Risk of Developing Dementia at Older Ages in the United
States.” Demography 54 (5): 1897–1919. doi:10.1007/s13524-017-0598-7.
Stępkowski, Dariusz, Grażyna Woźniak, and Marcin Studnicki. 2015. “Correlation of
Alzheimer’s Disease Death Rates with Historical Per Capita Personal Income in the
USA.” PLoS ONE 10 (5): 1–14. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0126139.