CAREGIVING NETWORKS OF DIVERSE FAMILIES: CONTEXT AND CULTURE INFLUENCES ON DEMENTIA CARE

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Abstract Older adults living with dementia and their primary caregivers are embedded within larger family and formal care networks that are shaped by cultural and contextual influences. Yet information about diverse caregiving networks is sparse. This symposium focuses on the composition, structure, responsibilities, and influences of caregiving networks in supporting persons living with dementia and their primary family caregivers. Savla and colleagues identify six distinct care networks among dementia family caregivers living in economically diverse areas of rural Appalachia. Networks varied by caregivers’ emotional connectivity with family/friends, caregiver strain, role overload, loneliness, and service attitudes and utilization. Ashida and colleagues focus on changes in rural and urban dementia family caregiving networks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Network members engaging in negative social interactions increased while those engaging in uplifting interactions decreased over time, especially among urban caregivers. Bonds Johnson and colleagues examine shared decision making between African American caregivers and their relative living with dementia. Dyadic analysis revealed that while care recipients were involved in the decision-making processes, their care network’s level of the involvement varied. Angel and colleagues explore the role of caregiver characteristics, stressors, and resources for Mexican American caregivers. Depressive symptoms were significantly associated with dementia caregiver turnover, with adult children and grandchildren caregivers more likely to experience turnover than spouses. Collectively, the findings presented extend prior research on community-based dementia caregiving, broadening the focus from a single caregiver to a network of caregivers and capturing the complexities of place-based context and culture variations in care provision.