FC59: The role of community pharmacists in improving help seeking for dementia among Black African and Caribbean people in the UK

Abstract

Background: Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people continue to present later to specialist care centres and services for memory problems. This poses significant concerns due to implications for poorer treatment outcomes and higher treatment cost among this population. While diverse interventions to support improved help seeking for dementia have been proffered for other BAME communities, there is a paucity of research involving the Black African and Caribbean community. Furthermore, whilst community health professionals like the doctors and community nurses have been involved in such interventions, no previous research has considered the role of the community pharmacist. This research explored opportunities for community pharmacists to support improved help seeking for dementia among the Black African and Caribbean population.

Methods: This research was a multi-stage project involving surveys and interviews with community pharmacists and Black Africans and Caribbeans as participants.

Results: Knowledge, attitude and beliefs around dementia and it’s causes appeared to be major barriers to help seeking among the Black African and Caribbean population. For example, beliefs that dementia is caused by ‘the spirits’ and dementia is a repercussion for past wrongdoing and therefore not amenable to medical intervention. The community pharmacists believe they are well positioned to spot initial signs of dementia among their clients and are therefore willing to offer help seeking support to this population.

Conclusions: To offer intervention for timely help-seeking for dementia, a culturally tailored dementia education for the Black African and Caribbean population should be considered. In addition, training on the impact of cultural beliefs on help seeking for dementia should be considered for the communitypharmacists.