Outreach to ethnic minorities with Alzheimer's disease: the challenge to the community.

This article seeks to outline an outreach strategy to link dementia-affected ethnic minority elderly and their caregivers to community support resources and services. The strategy is based on the combined application of what has been termed culture free principles (appropriately translated, but more universally active approaches) and culture fair (culturally specific) techniques. The strategy calls for the separation of socioeconomic indicators from cultural dynamics. For example, many ethnic minority groups share poverty and attendant underclass status. Languages and customs vary considerably, particularly as related to helpseeking and helptaking behaviors both within and between the four major groups: American Indian/Native Americans, Asian Americans, Blacks, and Hispanics. Natural social network linkages are detailed as part of the overall effort.