UMN Health's video: Memory Keepers: Driven to End American Indian Rural Health Disparities

The University of Minnesota's Memory Keeper Medical Discovery Team is focused on Vascular Dementia in tribal communities. Led by Dr. Neil Henderson, the team, based on the Medical School's Duluth Campus will work to preserve brain health by the improved understanding of dementia and diabetes as an interactive syndemic. The logic in naming the project the Memory Keepers Medical Discovery Team is significant. In Native American culture, memory keepers are traditionally adults and elders of the tribe who are responsible for preserving sacred medicine bundles, sacred songs, and stories. By prevention and aggressive management of diabetes, the risk of vascular and other dementias that rob people of their memory can be reduced. In this spirit, the research to preserve brain health will enable Native American communities to continue to benefit from the wisdom of their adults and elders. Because rural populations are also plagued by dementia and diabetes, the Medical Discovery Team will develop interventions and research to meet the challenges of health disparities among people living their lives far from the resources of urban population centers.