THE EFFECTS OF VIGNETTES ABOUT DEMENTIA ON STIGMA AND ATTITUDES TOWARD DEMENTIA AMONG ETHNICALLY AND RACIALLY DIVERSE OLDER ADULTS IN SOUTH FLORIDA

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the effect of vignettes about Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) on stigma and attitudes toward people with Alzheimer’s dementia (PWAD) in a sample of community residents of adults 65 years and older. The specific aims of this study were: (1) to determine the effect of vignettes on AD- related stigma and negative attitudes toward people with AD among adults age 65 years and over, and (2) to describe AD- related stigma and negative attitudes in ethnically and racially diverse groups of older adults. A convenience sampling design was used to recruit 50 participants from a medical office in Boca Raton. The sample included adults age 65 years and older from the community, who understood English and scored 25 or higher on Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE). Participants were randomly assigned to the control group (n=22) who received standard AD education or to the intervention (n=28) who received vignettes and standard AD education. Independent t-test was used to analyze the pretest- posttest change scores in the measures of DAS and STIG-MA survey. The significance (p value) was set at .05. In research question two, the samples were
divided into 1) white non- Hispanic and 2) other diverse groups. Descriptive statistics were used to explore racial or ethnic differences in stigma and attitudes. The intervention used vignettes and AD education to decrease stigma and attitudes toward people with dementia and showed statistical significance as compared to the control group who received only the AD education.