A scoping review of dementia caregiving for Korean Americans and recommendations for future research

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundAlzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) unpaid caregivers experience significant caregiver burden with physical/mental health and financial issues. In the United States (U.S.), there is limited ADRD research among Asian Americans, who are the fastest growing racial group of older persons. Older Korean Americans (KA), specifically have unique additional dementia caregiving needs with language and cultural barriers. We conducted a scoping review of the published literature on dementia caregiving among KA, and provide recommendations on potential future intervention research to help address this research gap for an underserved U.S. population.MethodA comprehensive electronic search was conducted within multiple databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, Embase, PsycINFO, and Proquest) by two independent reviewers for qualitative and quantitative papers that were published from 01/01/00‐06/30/19. The review’s inclusion criteria included: focus/inclusion of KA ADRD caregivers; caregiving interventions/programs; qualitative and/or quantitative primary research papers; study outcomes focused on caregivers’ health/burden/use of services; and published in English. Two additional reviewers confirmed the inclusion of the selected papers.ResultsThe search yielded 843 publications; data were extracted from 17 eligible studies (8 quantitative and 9 qualitative) following the Arksey and O’Malley framework. Quantitative studies included cross‐sectional surveys. Qualitative studies included focus groups and interviews. The scoping review revealed that the majority of KA caregivers were wives, daughters, and daughters‐in‐law. KA caregivers often experience stress, anxiety, depression, and burden outcomes associated with caregiving. Social support and familism were found to be two of the most important factors that determine KA caregivers’ attitudes toward caregiving. The most commonly reported barriers to utilizing public services including limited ADRD knowledge, language barriers, stigma, and desire to care for their family at home. Challenges in finding culturally relevant resources are common among KA caregivers.ConclusionSome research about KA dementia caregiving exist, but none that were intervention‐based for caregivers. Future intervention research for KA dementia caregivers should focus on culturally appropriate resources in health, social services, and education. Dementia caregiving is a significant public health problem facing our diverse nation that warrants the development and provision of targeted culturally appropriate programs for underserved populations such as KA.