Communities of color are more likely to develop dementia, but most studies on dementia test new interventions on white study participants. As a result, the programs and pharmaceuticals developed by these studies are not geared around specific characteristics of communities of color, which is a major public health problem.
To address this problem, we launched a national initiative to empower and engage communities of color in dementia research on their own terms.
Under this initiative, we are creating a Consortium of national organizations trusted by communities of color. The purpose of this Consortium is to mobilize resources of national organizations to spread the news about research opportunities in communities of color, explain what is involved in participating in specific clinical trials, and why it matters. The Consortium also works with researchers of clinical trials to help them understand how to increase the diversity of their research participants.