Peggye Dilworth-Anderson

Peggye Dilworth-Anderson is Professor of Health Policy and Administration, and Director of the Center for Aging and Diversity in the Institute on Aging (IOA) at UNC-CH. She co-directs an NIA-funded five-year training program at the IOA, Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Training in Healthcare and Aging Research. Her research, funded by the National Institute on Aging, the US Administration on Aging, and the March of Dimes, has addressed: 1) how extended African American families provide care to chronically ill children, 2) intergenerational interventions for socially isolated older people in the community and at-risk African American children, 3) how extended families provide care for dependent older African Americans, and 4) the emotional and physical health effects of caregiving to dependent elders in African American families. Currently, she is the principal investigator of two projects that focus on health disparities pertaining to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. One study, funded by the Alzheimer's Association, examines meanings and perceptions of dementia among caregivers to older blacks and whites that can provide insight into the diagnosis and care of older demented elders in the family. The other study, funded by GlaxoSmithKline, is an education and intervention project for caregivers of dementia patients.