UA College of Nursing Receives NIH Grant to Study Latino Elders and Home Care Services
July 06, 2009
Latino elders have higher rates of chronic illness than their non-Latino counterparts, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Although home-care services to help them are available, many Latino elders and family caregivers resist using these services.
A researcher with The University of Arizona College of Nursing in Tucson has been awarded a $375,000 grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a study, “A Telenovela Intervention to Increase Mexican American Elders’ Home Care Use.” (A telenovela is a dramatization of a compelling story in Spanish.)
“As a home health-care nurse, I saw that home health-care services help improve outcomes for elders and their family caregivers. However, Mexican-American elders did not use home health-care as much as they could,” says Janice D. Crist, PhD, RN, principal investigator for the study and associate professor, UA College of Nursing. “While many community members recognized the value of home health-care services, familism -- the cultural norm that family members rather than strangers should take care of elders, at all costs -- was a strong influence in various studies we conducted.”
One study by Dr. Crist showed that telenovelas are a promising, culturally relevant strategy for increasing Mexican-American elders’ and caregivers’ knowledge of and willingness to consider home-care services. “A telenovela can demonstrate the value of using home-care services in a culturally relevant manner,” says Dr. Crist, “and can be used by providers to inform their clients about their option for home health-care services in a culturally appropriate setting.”
The two-year NIH grant, which began May 15, will fund the professional production of a short film, “Todo Ha Cambiado” (“Everything Has Changed”), that will be shown to Latino elders and caregivers participating in the study. The film portrays a Latino elder and her family coming to a decision to use home-care services to help her manage her chronic conditions while remaining at home and keeping the culturally important family central to her experience. The film’s influence on the elders’ and caregivers’ attitudes toward use of home-care services will be evaluated.
Study participants will be recruited by the ENCASA Community Advisory Council (ENCASA stands for Elders’ aNd Caregivers’ Assistance and Support At-home -- “en casa” is Spanish for “in home”).
“A key element of my research has been strong community partnership to ensure that the research is focused on real community concerns, an essential part of conducting research with minority and under-served populations,” says Dr. Crist. “ENCASA includes 17 Mexican-American members who help design research questions and recruit and retain research participants.”
Study co-investigator is Andrea Romero, PhD, associate professor with the Mexican American Studies and Research Center at the UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, who also holds dual appointments in the UA Departments of Psychology and Family Studies and Human Development.
For more information about the study, visit the UA College of Nursing Web site, www.nursing.arizona.edu