Abstract：
Dementia can be overwhelming to families and their caregivers. Informal caregiving is a widespread mode of providing dementia care in African American communities, yet impact of caregiving on informal or family caregivers in African American communities is burdensome. This study aimed to describe the lived experiences of informal caregivers of African American People Living with Dementia (PLWD) to understand their perceptions of dementia and dementia care, caregiver support needs, and service needs. Interpretive phenomenological qualitative inquiry guided this study to understand caregivers\' experiences and needs. Ten family caregivers of African American PLWD in the community participated in this study. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and a diary study approach to document and interpret caregivers\' experiences. The data analysis was based on procedures of content analysis. Four major themes emerged from the in-depth interviews: caregiver burden, familism, lack of information and community-based resources, and desire and need for culturally appropriate community-based resources. Triangulated diary entry data complemented the in-depth interviews with similar themes. This study highlights how African American informal caregivers of PLWD face various caregiving needs and challenges in dementia care including lack of culturally appropriate community resources and information. The study illustrates that African American cultural beliefs of familism are significant aspects of their caregiving experience and their coping strategies. These study results provide a useful foundation for various stakeholders to develop culturally targeted interventions and programs to support African American informal caregivers and their family members with dementia.
摘要：
痴呆症对家庭及其照顾者来说可能是压倒性的。非正式护理是在非裔美国人社区提供痴呆症护理的一种普遍模式，然而,在非洲裔美国人社区中,照顾对非正式或家庭照顾者的影响是繁重的.这项研究旨在描述非裔美国人痴呆症患者（PLWD）的非正式照顾者的生活经历，以了解他们对痴呆症和痴呆症护理的看法，护理人员支持需求，和服务需求。解释性现象学定性调查指导本研究了解护理人员的经验和需求。社区中的10名非裔美国人PLWD家庭照顾者参加了这项研究。数据是通过深入访谈和日记研究方法收集的，以记录和解释护理人员的经验。数据分析基于内容分析的程序。深入访谈中出现了四个主要主题：照顾者的负担，家族主义,缺乏信息和社区资源，以及对文化上适当的社区资源的愿望和需要。三角日记条目数据补充了类似主题的深入访谈。这项研究强调了PLWD的非裔美国人非正式护理人员如何在痴呆症护理中面临各种护理需求和挑战，包括缺乏文化上适当的社区资源和信息。研究表明，非裔美国人对家庭主义的文化信仰是他们照顾经验和应对策略的重要方面。这些研究结果为各种利益相关者制定具有文化针对性的干预措施和计划提供了有用的基础，以支持非裔美国人的非正式照顾者及其患有痴呆症的家庭成员。
