title: Adaptation of the Barts Explanatory Model Inventory to dementia understanding in South Asian ethnic minorities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Studies indicate a limited understanding of dementia and its associated symptoms, causes and consequences among South Asian older adults. As a consequence, fewer people from this ethnic group receive a diagnosis of dementia. The aim of this study was to adapt the previously designed Barts Explanatory Model Inventory Checklist (BEMI-C), a tool designed to elicit perceptions of mental illness from people with different cultural backgrounds, for use with people with dementia in the South Asian population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Both a literature review and 25 qualitative interviews were conducted to find themes and perceptions that are relevant to the South Asian culture in recognising and dealing with symptoms of dementia. The emergent themes and perceptions were then added to the BEMI-C through synthesis of findings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The initial four checklists of symptoms, causes, consequences and treatments from the BEMI-C were retained in the new BEMI-Dementia (BEMI-D) and expanded with six additional themes, including 123 new perceptions relevant to the understanding of dementia. All new themes emerged from the qualitative interviews, some of which were also found in the literature.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given the national priority of improving dementia awareness and timely diagnosis, the BEMI-D can serve as a useful tool, in research and perhaps practice, to assess the barriers to dementia service uptake in this population and their understandings of dementia. Based on the detailed methodological description of the adaptation of the BEMI-C, this paper further suggests how this tool can be adapted to suit other ethnic minority groups.
authors: a Personal Social Services Research Unit , The University of Manchester , Manchester , UK.
authors: Clarissa M
authors: CM
authors: Giebel
authors: a Personal Social Services Research Unit , The University of Manchester , Manchester , UK.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Jolley
authors: b Formerly Personal Social Services Research Unit , The University of Manchester , Manchester , UK , now School of Sociology and Social Policy , The University of Nottingham, Nottingham , UK.
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Zubair
authors: c Centre for Psychiatry, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London , London , UK.
authors: Kamaldeep Singh
authors: KS
authors: Bhui
authors: a Personal Social Services Research Unit , The University of Manchester , Manchester , UK.|d Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust , Manchester , UK.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Challis
authors: d Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust , Manchester , UK.|e Formerly Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health , The University of Manchester , Manchester , UK.
authors: Nitin
authors: N
authors: Purandare
authors: a Personal Social Services Research Unit , The University of Manchester , Manchester , UK.
authors: Angela
authors: A
authors: Worden
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D057189:Checklist / Q000592:standards; D003704:Dementia / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups; D010154:Pakistan / Q000208:ethnology; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000208:ethnology
keywords: South Asian; dementia; ethnic minorities; explanatory model; mental health; old age