Dr. Yeon-Shim-Lee is Awarded Research Grant

Professor of Social Work Yeon-Shim Lee and her colleagues were awarded a research grant from the Alzheimer’s Association to study psychosocial and cultural factors that affect Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD) screening and develop health intervention among Indigenous populations in the Northern Plains.

Building upon their previous findings that Indigenous populations have high levels of health/mental health problems yet underutilize health/mental health services, the proposed study conceptualizes low ADRD literacy as a major reason for service underutilization and a central focus of intervention efforts. The overall goals are to increase understanding of the levels of knowledge on ADRD manifested in the target population and to lay the groundwork for the development of a culturally tailored health intervention. Future work must improve culturally grounded understanding and awareness of declining cognitive ability among older Indigenous people.