Submitted by the Alzheimer’s Association.
Dr. Maria Ortiz remembers her father Herbert Ortiz as a strong family man who always wanted his children to be economically better off than he was. While living in San Germán, Puerto Rico, he loved music, he loved driving his Jeep around the Island and he was so proud of his kids, Dr. Ortiz said.
But after she moved to Cincinnati, she started picking up on some changes during their phone calls. Each time she called him, she felt he was slipping away.
Her father, whom she called “Papi” was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2010. He passed four years later.
“My mother told me he was not aware of what was happening,” said Dr. Ortiz, who is Associate Professor, Educator of Spanish at the UC Blue Ash College. “I’d get on the phone and he would lose track of what he’s telling me.”
Dementia researchers and public health experts are zeroing in on dementia risk factors, including lifestyle and genetics, in the Hispanic, Latino and Latinx community. According to the National Institute on Aging, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that by 2060 the number of Latinos age 65 and older is expected to nearly quadruple, and that Latinos will face the largest increase in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias cases of any racial/ethnic group in the United States. Because age is the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s, that means there will be more Latinos with the disease in the years ahead—about 3.5 million in the United States by 2060.
Currently Hispanics are about 1.5 times more likely to develop dementia than non-Hispanic whites, according to the Alzheimer’s Association’s Facts and Figures report. New research released this summer is helping dementia experts understand how genetic predictors of Alzheimer’s risk may differ among Hispanics of different backgrounds/heritage, and between Hispanic and White individuals.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive brain disease that affects memory, thinking and behavior. In Ohio, there are 220,000 individuals aged 65 and older living with the disease.
“We know we need to reach the Latino population with our free programs and services,” said Paula Kollstedt, Executive Director of the Alzheimer’s Association Greater Cincinnati Chapter. “Education is the key to this disease, education is power,” Kollstedt said. “This is a disease that just does not affect one person, it at least affects three others caring for them,” she said. “We need to understand the cultures of all populations.”
Alberto Williams-Medina was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico but spent most of his time in Vega Alta, on the northern coast of the island. He said he grew up with his grandparents and his great grandparents and was taught to care and respect his elders. His great-grandmother had Alzheimer’s which they called “senil demencia.”
“You could see it in her eyes, she was physically there but she wasn’t there there,” Williams said. He remembers being around 12 years old cooking for her and helping to give her her medications. “I would talk to her and she would drift off a lot of times. It’s a very hard experience to live,” he said. “Because of my family pushing me to care for my elders….I found joy doing it.”
Today he is in the Master’s in Medical Physiology program at Case Western Reserve University and will become a bilingual community educator for the Cleveland Alzheimer’s chapter.
Dr. Ortiz is a member of the Greater Cincinnati Alzheimer’s Association’s Mosaic Council, an advisory group comprised of diverse volunteer community leaders, health care providers and family caregivers. Its mission is to conduct outreach and raise awareness while increasing the understanding of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia to culturally diverse communities.
She said she helps connect families to the Alzheimer’s Association and provides translation if necessary. “When you think of Latino families in general, we protect our elders, we take care of them. We start to lose them, and the family feels like it is starting to get lost,” she said.
There is a lot of stigma around mental illness and conditions like that in the Latino community, Dr. Ortiz said. “We do not want to talk about it, we don’t question it, we don’t say anything…but with programs that the Alzheimer’s Association provides, people are getting more informed,” she said.
About Alzheimer’s Association®
The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Our mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. Our vision is a world without Alzheimer’s®. Visit www.alz.org.