Community-Based Pathways to Brain Health in Older African Americans

African Americans have over twice the risk of white Americans for getting Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias while they are also significantly less likely to receive a diagnostic evaluation and clinical care. Fortunately, many factors implicated in this health disparity are potentially modifiable through education and behavior change. Although these epidemiological disparities are most clearly associated with race, they are exacerbated by income and education disparities: African Americans with lower levels of income and lower levels of education are more likely to exhibit all these health disparities.  

The Aging & Brain Health Alliance at Rutgers University-Newark has been active for 18 years (since 2006) in the Greater Newark area of northern New Jersey, promoting healthy aging and the prevention of Alzheimer's disease among older African Americans. REACH is investing in this project to support its move beyond providing just health education and expanding offerings to include free open-access health support programs for lower-income older African Americans in the Newark area.  

These efforts will directly address—and seek to bridge—the social, environmental, and economic barriers that older, lower-income residents experience in putting brain health education into practice. The outcome of this project will allow more of these community members to implement behavioral and lifestyle changes that improve their brain health, enhance their cognitive vitality, and reduce their risk of Alzheimer's disease.