In two Texas counties along the border with Mexico, 20 to 25 percent of seniors have Alzheimer's or related dementias. Those rates are among the highest in the US and represent a mostly Latino population. But Latinos are underrepresented in Alzheimer's clinical trials. Physician and neurologist Dr. Gladys Maestre is changing that at her NIH-funded Alzheimer's research center in the Rio Grande Valley, the first of its kind in Texas. She's using a "place-based" approach to dementia care, bringing her Latina identity and cultural knowledge to investigate the social, environmental, and biological factors that influence brain health.

What happens when you become your parent's parent? That's what longtime NPR journalist Kitty Eisele had to figure out when she became a full-time caregiver for her beloved dad. After moving back to her childhood home, she finds herself bewildered by the medical, legal, and emotional challenges of elder-care, to say nothing of the time her dad headed off on a 300-mile road trip without telling her. 

Kitty's dad was experiencing cognitive decline, but she felt like the one losing her mind. Twenty-Four Seven explores how we help our loved ones live—and die—and what they mean to us. 

Support for this podcast comes from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and its Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases.