$1.6M grant to focus on nursing home units to reduce racial disparities in dementia care

$1.6M grant to focus on nursing home units to reduce racial disparities in dementia care 
McKnights Long-Term Care News; by Jessica R. Towhey; 10/3/24 
Emory University will use a $1.6 million, federal grant to investigate the role Alzheimer’s special care units play in reducing racial and ethnic disparities in dementia care within nursing homes. The research team will be led by Huiwen Xu, PhD, an associate professor in the university’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, who specializes in gerontology and elder health. The four-year grant from the National Institute on Aging will analyze quality of life and improved health outcomes in the specialized care units, which the school’s press release said are available in only 14% of nursing homes nationwide. Xu’s team will examine the underlying causes of racial disparities for Black and Hispanic residents, who have limited access to the memory care units, the release said.