Ethnogeriatrics - Healthcare Needs of Diverse Populations

This volume is divided into five parts and fifteen chapters that address these topics by examining ethnogeriatric foundations, research issues, clinical care in ethnogeriatrics, education and policy. Expertly written chapters, by practicing geriatricians, gerontologists, clinician researchers and clinician educators, present a systematic approach to recognizing, analyzing and addressing the challenges of meeting the healthcare needs of a diverse population and authors discuss ways in which to engage the community by increasing research participation and by investigating the most prevalent diseases found in ethnic minorities. 

Ethnogeriatrics discusses issues related to working with culturally diverse elders that tend not to be addressed in typical training curricula and is essential reading for geriatricians, hospitalists, advance practice nurses, social workers and others who are part of a multidisciplinary team that provides high quality care to older patients.

Dr. Cummings-Vaughn is a physician at Saint Louis University in their nationally recognized geriatrics program. She is also an editorial board member of the Journal of the American Medical Director's Association and a member of the American Geriatric Society's Ethnogeriatrics Special Interest Group. Dr. Johnson is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatrics, and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She attends on the Duke Inpatient Geriatric Medicine Service, Palliative Care Service, and General Medicine Teaching Service. Additionally, she provides primary care for a panel of older adults at a continuing care retirement community. Dr. Johnson's research focuses on understanding racial disparities in end-of-life care. She is currently investigating organizational barriers to the use of hospice care by African Americans. To support her research, she was awarded a Beeson Career Development Award in Aging Research (6/2007) and a National Palliative Care Research Center Career Development Award (6/2007). Dr. Johnson has received the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Junior Investigator Award and American Geriatrics Society Outstanding Excellence in Geriatric Research Award for her work describing cultural factors which may explain racial differences in the use of advance directives and beliefs and attitudes toward hospice care.