Providing Culturally Competent Eldercare for Asian Americans

As the Asian American elderly population continues to grow, it is important to acknowledge cultural factors that may impact their behavior, attitudes, preferences, and decisions in the context of eldercare. Cultural competency acknowledges and considers these factors while providing care that includes biophysical factors of healthcare as well as non-medical dimensions of care such as language and culture.This thesis seeks to address the applications of providing culturally competent eldercare to Asian Americans and offer future recommendations to care settings that have limited resources by utilizing a multidisciplinary review of literature accompanied by interviews with representatives from On Lok, a geriatric clinic that cares specifically for aging Asian American patients and the Office of Preventative Health and Health Equity within the Mississippi State Department of Health to analyze and assess the demographics of aging Asian Americans, the need for culturally competent care, cultural factors to consider in the care of aging Asian Americans, and structures within our society that exist today to provide culturally competent long-term and clinical eldercare for Asian Americans.By evaluating existing models and methods of culturally competent eldercare for Asian Americans such as ethnospecific long-term care facilities, ethnospecific clinics & culturally competent providers, interpreting services, and family caregiving support & home health services, key cultural factors to consider within eldercare of Asian American population were identified: filial piety and familial decision making, alternative medicine, influence of faith and spirituality, lower rates of advance directives compared to whites, somatic presentation of mental health, Eastern diets, and risk factors & lower rates of preventative screening. Finally, recommendations when providing culturally competent eldercare for Asian Americans in care settings with limited resources were also determined: education for healthcare providers & professionals, individualized care through communication, incorporation of caregivers and family members, accessible advance directives, community engagement, and representation in research.