Michael Lepore, PhD, Professor, UM School of Nursing

Ester Villalonga Olives, PhD, MSc, Assistant Professor, UM School of Pharmacy

This study brings together a new, interdisciplinary research team across the Schools of Nursing and Pharmacy with expertise in social gerontology, epidemiology, geriatric medicine and nursing, to advance person-centered, residential dementia care of older adults in Brazil. Over 40 million older adults and their families world-wide struggle with the physical and behavioral symptoms and emotional distress of living with Alzheimer's Disease and related major neurocognitive disorders, the majority of whom live in low and middle-income countries. This study is the first step in a program of research to adapt person-centered dementia care to address this disparate impact, in the context of emerging residential care in Brazil. Lessons learned may enhance our capacity to address dementia-related health disparities in low-resource long-term care settings in the US and low and middle-income countries alike.