Toward model-driven interventions for African Americans with cognitive-communicative disorders.

Area of Science:

• Speech-Language Pathology
• Neuroscience
• Public Health

Background:

• African American adults experience a high burden of cognitive-communicative disorders.
• Underutilization of speech-language pathology services is prevalent in this demographic.
• Existing services may not align with the cultural values and preferences of African American adults.

Purpose of the Study:

• To issue a call to action for developing model-informed interventions for African American adults with cognitive-communicative disorders.
• To propose interventions that reflect culturally distinctive opportunities for activities and participation.
• To establish social validity and empirical support for culturally tailored approaches.

Main Methods:

• Reviewing existing literature on cognitive-communicative disorders in African American adults.
• Proposing a framework for model-driven intervention development.
• Utilizing constructs from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF).
• Integrating principles of evidence-based practice.

Main Results:

• Culturally distinctive activities and participatory roles can enhance intervention relevance.
• The ICF framework provides a structure for assessing functioning and participation.
• Evidence-based practice principles can guide the development of culturally sensitive interventions.

Conclusions:

• Interventions for African American adults with cognitive-communicative disorders must be culturally responsive.
• Model-driven approaches, grounded in ICF and evidence-based practice, are essential.
• Future research should focus on developing and validating these tailored interventions to improve service utilization and outcomes.