Diversity and Disparities in Dementia Diagnosis and Care

Abstract

Health disparities areoneofthemostimportant public health challenges in the United States. Disparities and inequities in rates and treatment of disease stem from a complex web of environmental, sociocultural, behavioral, and biological factors that accumulate over a lifetime to produce population-level differences. As evidenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, health disparities result in markedly different rates of disease, complications of disease, and access to care and treatment. In the US, Alzheimer disease and related dementias are conditions with profound health disparities, disproportionally affecting many racial/ ethnic groups. An identified goal of the 2012 federally man- dated National Plan to Address Alzheimer Disease was to redress disparities in Alzheimer disease anddementia. Delineating barriers and trajectories of care, particularly among those with health insurance, is an important step for furthering our understanding of disparities in dementia.