Caribbean, Native American, and Yoruba

Extract

Studying behavioral disturbances of dementia across cultures allows us to identify commonalities and differences that may be useful in determining the best approach to managing these problems. However, what we tend to find in cross-cultural studies is that the best approach may not be the same approach, given the different prevalence of and levels of tolerance for various behavioral problems. These differences are apparent in the authors' studies of four populations—Jamaicans in Kingston; Cree in Northern Manitoba, Canada; Yoruba in Ibadan, Nigeria; and African Americans in the United States. The Jamaicans in this study live in a poor suburb of Kingston, the Cree live in two fairly small, isolated communities in Northern Manitoba, and the Yoruba live in Ibadan, a city of more than 1 million people. The Yoruba community the authors are studying, although concentrated in the city center, functions much like a village. The African-American population resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, a moderately sized city of approximately 1 million people.