Brain donation in studies on aging remains a critical pathway to discovering and improving preventive measures and treatments for Alzheimer’s dementia and related disorders. Brain donation for research is almost exclusively obtained from non-Latinx Whites of higher socioeconomic status in the United States. Despite persistent efforts, it has been difficult to obtain consent for brain donation among diverse participants. Hence, our understanding of Alzheimer’s dementia and related disorders remains incomplete. The purpose of this methodological paper was to propose and outline a two-phase sequential mixed-methods research study design to identify barriers and facilitators of brain donation among diverse older adults. The first phase will consist of qualitative focus groups using a three (participant minority status: African American, Latinx, or White of lower income) by two (participant brain donation decision: consented or declined) design. The second phase will include statistical analyses of quantitative measures of existing data representing categories of variables that may be associated with decision making regarding brain donation. Next steps must include conducting qualitative focus groups and subsequent data analyses, resulting in overarching themes. Afterward, qualitative themes will be operationalized using quantitative variables for statistical analyses. This proposed study design can provide the foundation for developing and implementing effective and culturally competent survey instruments, educational tools, and intervention strategies in an effort to facilitate brain donation among diverse older adults

衰老研究中的大脑捐赠仍然是发现和改进阿尔茨海默氏痴呆症及相关疾病的预防措施和治疗的关键途径。用于研究的大脑捐赠几乎全部来自美国社会经济地位较高的非拉丁裔白人。尽管做出了不懈的努力，但仍很难获得不同参与者的大脑捐赠同意。因此，我们对阿尔茨海默氏痴呆症和相关疾病的理解仍然不完整。这篇方法论论文的目的是提出并概述一个两阶段序贯混合方法研究设计，以识别不同老年人大脑捐赠的障碍和促进因素。第一阶段将由定性焦点小组组成，采​​用三（参与者少数族裔身份：非裔美国人、拉丁裔或低收入白人）乘二（参与者大脑捐赠决定：同意或拒绝）设计。第二阶段将包括对现有数据的定量测量进行统计分析，这些数据代表可能与大脑捐赠决策相关的变量类别。下一步必须包括进行定性焦点小组和随后的数据分析，从而得出总体主题。随后，定性主题将使用定量变量进行统计分析。这项拟议的研究设计可以为开发和实施有效且具有文化能力的调查工具、教育工具和干预策略奠定基础，以促进不同老年人的大脑捐赠