African Americans and Latinx in the US experience disparities in dementia prevalence than the White population. Being historically underrepresented, persons with dementia among these two groups encounter additional challenges in accessing dementia care due to being uninsured or underinsured, cultural barriers, racial discrimination, and distrust towards the healthcare system. Employing the community health workers (CHWs), as the trusted members of the community sharing the common culture and language, could be a promising way in establishing a link between the community and the healthcare facility to improve the dementia care among the minority groups. Culturally appropriate approaches by the CHWs in dementia related awareness, counselling, diagnosis and treatment, care coordination and planning, family health advocacy, insurance enrollment and other social services may help bridging the community to the healthcare system, reduce mistrust and increase patient adherence among the minority groups.

In this project, we propose to examine the feasibility of employing CHWs in dementia care delivery among the African American and Latinx populations. This study aims to explore the potential roles, challenges, and recommendations in integrating the CHWs into the dementia care from the perspective of healthcare professionals and administrative stakeholders. Our findings will help assessing the need for the individual and community level changes in the dementia healthcare delivery system.