Mapping the Trajectories of Social Relations for White, Black, and Hispanic/Latino Individuals Approaching Death With Dementia

Dementia risk, social networks, and patterns of social network shrinking are unequal across people of different races and ethnicities. Adding nuance to known patterns, network shrinkage may be a phenomenon of White persons with dementia. In contrast, patterns of stable or even increasing numbers of network members may better describe Black and Hispanic/Latino networks, respectively. These findings may reveal unique strengths of Black and Hispanic/Latino networks that could be leveraged to develop care and support for individuals with dementia and those they leave behind.