Mohsen Najar
Pronouns: he/him
Research Mentor(s): Hwajung Choi
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Internal Medicine / Medicine
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 5 – 3:40pm – 4:30 pm
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Mohsen Najar, Bona Park, Hwajung Choi
Presenter: 26
Abstract
Dementia is known as cognitive function impairment, especially common among older individuals. The symptom most common, but not limited to, is memory loss such as forgetting routines that were once like second nature. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many individuals across the board, such as people who work check-to-check, those with pre-existing conditions, and the list goes on. Pay cuts, unemployment, and lockdown all hindered accessibility to dementia care, especially if the individual with dementia has limited family care resources. The Family Dynamics and Influence in Dementia Care (FDIDC) project studies the impact of family care availability on dementia care and the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic affected family care dynamics for persons with dementia. A potential recruitment list for the FDIDC study was provided by the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center (MADC). This project aims to understand challenges experienced due to the pandemic regarding dementia care, as well as understand how a daily routine was accommodated by the caregiver while trying to follow pandemic guidance precautions. For this, the study team conducted in-depth interviews via telephone or Zoom. A brief survey was also administered before each in-depth interview to collect basic demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the family caregiver and the person with dementia. Findings from the research are expected to provide valuable insights into dementia care during the pandemic; it would improve the understanding of the role of family care sources for dementia care – especially during hindering moments of limited access to formal healthcare resources.
Biomedical Sciences
