Abstract

Ethnic minorities experience numerous adverse health consequences through their interactions with the healthcare system, but recently, their harmful experiences with dementia are of note. As dementia is among the fastest growing neurodegenerative diseases in the world, its consequences are vast, it’s clinical experiences bitter and it’s cost insurmountable. Unfortunately, even though most dementia growth and adverse consequences are in developing nations, ethnic minorities, are still prone to elevated risks of dementia even in North American society. Through the impacts of racialization, they are often treated unjustly by socioeconomic and healthcare systems, which put them at risk of dementia. This paper seeks to examine the mechanisms through which dementia prevalence and severity rates are high in ethnic minorities, while deriving evidence based clinical and healthcare policy suggestions to mitigate risk factors. Utilizing a three-fold approach, this paper leverages the impacts that healthcare systems, socioeconomic status, and social hierarchies play in creating exceptionally exacerbating environments thatput ethnic minorities at inflated dementia risk.