Alzheimer au travers les cultures: Examiner l'impact des circonstances des communautés autochtones et des perspectives culturelles sur le traitement.

Abstract

An estimated 10,800 people of Indigenous ancestry in Canada live with dementia [1], for which the most predominant cause is Alzheimer’s disease [2]. While there are no known interventions that can cure Alzheimer's, both pharmacological and therapeutic treatments are widely employed [2]. While these treatment avenues have been widely implemented among the general Canadian population, there is a knowledge gap with regards to how the differing circumstances and cultural approaches of the Indigenous community impact how they interface with these treatments [3]. As such, the proposed study would investigate and summarize the existing literature on how these unique circumstances and cultural perspectives could impact access to care and influence the perception, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer’s in Indigenous communities.  Given the general higher susceptibility of Indigenous populations to Alzheimer’s due to a higher prevalence of modifiable risk factors [4], it is hypothesized that the unique circumstances and cultural perspectives of the Indigenous community will, similarly, reflect poorer treatment outcomes for Alzheimer’s in Indigenous populations than the general Canadian population. The methodology employed by this study would be a systematic review, serving as a general, but reproducible, outlook on the current state of research in this subject area and as a foundation for further research. The proposed study would serve to determine the best approaches to and need for implementing accessible and culturally-sensitive care for Alzheimer’s disease in Indigenous communities. The insights gained would allow for further understanding and integration of the underrepresented Indigenous perspective within the healthcare system.