This proposed research project will study the attitudes and needs of caregivers of people with dementia from three different Asian ethnic groups living in the Inland Empire of Southern California: Korean, Vietnamese, and Cambodian Americans. These groups are among the most limited English proficient, linguistically isolated, economically and educationally disadvantaged groups among Asians and the nation. These three groups also live in the largest (San Bernardino) and one of the largest (Riverside) of California's 58 counties where they lack established ethnic communities from which to obtain information and needed services in their own languages (structural barriers to service use). Additionally, these groups' cultural beliefs and attitudes towards dementia may also discourage them from seeking needed help because they tend to view dementia as a mental illness, a source of shame and stigma. This may contribute to increased caregiver burnout, premature institutionalization of the demented care recipeitn, and a host of mental health and health consequences for both (cultural barriers to service use). The proposed study will develop a model for reaching and assessing the needs of hard-to-reach Asian ethnic groups living in large geographic regions, wherein they are culturally and geographically isolated from a significant number of their fellow countrymen, t will also assess that regions' service delivery systems for ethnic- and linguistic-specific services to elucidate the extent to which it can meet its residents' caregiver support service needs. The Pis will study other Asian subgroups in these counties after completing this study. The development of ethnic-specific models of service delivery will also be designed based on the data generated from this proposed research project.
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