Graphic Novela: Mexican American Families’ Use of Community Services for Older Adults

Knowledge gaps exist about how to help Mexican American (MA) families seek assistance when their capacity to assist older family members is challenged. MA families may resist confronting unpleasant but real situations with the older adult, for example, the need to access long term support services (LTSS), because of cultural and structural barriers. The purpose was to describe stakeholders’ reactions to a culturally focused graphic novela created in partnership with a community advisory council. Qualitative description with content analysis of a focus group’s reactions to the graphic novela was used. Results included positive reactions as well as suggestions for improvement and dissemination. Graphic novelas can be an effective medium for modeling conversations about older adults’ needing additional care, and demonstrating how to identify and access available LTSS or other services. Included is a description of the researchers’ process of partnering with diverse stakeholders, which is essential for creating new solutions.

Police Brutality and Mexican American Families in Texas, 1945–1980

Scholarly literature on racist violence has typically focused on the experiences of young males who suffer a disproportionate share of the police violence directed at their communities. This study widens our view of the effects of racist violence by examining the experiences of the family members of these men, and particularly the wives, children, parents, and siblings. The article shows that family members often witnessed the abuse of their loved ones, endured feelings of helplessness in the face of these acts of violence, confronted threats (or worse) from these officers at the time or subsequently, and experienced firsthand the injustice of the justice system. The article builds on a recent scholarship on racist violence—primarily lynchings—that focuses on the effects of this violence on the families and communities of the victims.

Social Class and Parenting in Mexican American Families

Parenting practices are a key mechanism in the transmission of class advantage from adults to children; however, Latinxs have not been a main focus of this work. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 17 middle-class and working-class and poor Mexican American parents, we explore social class patterns in childrearing practices and beliefs. Rather than stark-class differences found in previous work, we observed substantial similarities across social class lines. Our findings suggest that (1) Social mobility experienced by middle-class parents complicate class-based parenting beliefs. (2) Variation in parenting approaches in the same household mitigates class distinctions. (3) Mexican Americans’ shared contextual experiences and cultural values minimize social class differences in childrearing. These findings reshape the literature on class differences in parenting and show how social class and race and ethnicity impact childrearing beliefs and practices that are better illuminated when studied as a process.

Dual Trajectories of Dementia and Social Support in the Mexican-Origin Population

Background and Objectives In the next few decades, the number of Mexican American older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders will increase dramatically. Given that this population underutilizes formal care services, the degree of care responsibilities in Mexican American families is likely to increase at the same time. However, little is known about the changing need for assistance with instrumental day-to-day activities and emotional support by long-term patterns of cognitive impairment. Research Design and Methods We use 7 waves of the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (1992/1993–2010/2011) and trajectory modeling to describe long-term patterns of perceived emotional and instrumental support, and dementia. Results Results revealed 2 latent classes of both emotional and instrumental support trajectories: low and high support. Specifically, those living alone were more likely to belong to the group with low support than to that with high support. Three latent classes for likely dementia were also revealed: likely dementia, increasing impairment, and no impairment. Those living alone were more likely to belong to the increasing impairment and likely dementia groups. The dual trajectory of emotional and instrumental support with likely dementia revealed that the probability of belonging to the low-support group was highest for those with increasing impairment. Discussion and Implications These findings highlight the risk and vulnerability of those who live alone concerning perceived social support and dementia. Implications of the findings for the potential dependency burden on Latino caregivers are discussed.

LATE-LIFE CAREGIVING IN MEXICAN AMERICAN FAMILIES

This study explores how sociological triangulation can be used to examine Mexican-American families in late-life caregiving. We examine the importance of household structure in providing dementia care. The movement away from traditional residential arrangements that result from neoliberal market reforms and international migration means that intergenerational relationship norms and exchanges will inevitably change and affect Mexican-American families caring for their elders. For many aging Mexican-Americans, a severe lack of resources and health limitations introduce major uncertainties about their futures. We employ the H-EPESE and Sacramento Area Longitudinal Study of Aging to document the nature, extent, and quality of dementia caregiving in the Southwestern United States. Qualitative results uncover how the changing meaning of social relationships impacts family life for older parents with dementia. Multivariate analyses reveal that the late-life migration (after 50yrs) undermines resources and opportunities for community-based care. Implications of the findings for informal and formal support are discussed.