Dementia Care Decisions, Caregiving Situations, and Formal Service Use in Korean Immigrant Families: A Qualitative Application of a Sociocultural Model

Yuri Jang (), Hans Oh, Juyoung Park, Min-Kyoung Rhee, Nan Sook Park, Soondool Chung and Miyong T. Kim
Additional contact information
Yuri Jang: Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
Hans Oh: Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
Juyoung Park: Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
Min-Kyoung Rhee: Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
Nan Sook Park: School of Social Work, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
Soondool Chung: Department of Social Welfare, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea
Miyong T. Kim: School of Nursing, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA

Social Sciences, 2024, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-14

Abstract: Given the significant role of culture and place in dementia caregiving, we conducted a qualitative study with Korean American family caregivers of persons with dementia. Guided by the sociocultural model of dementia caregivers’ service use, we explored the categories of care decisions, caregiving situations, and formal service use within the context of culture and place. Data from in-depth interviews with 16 Korean American dementia caregivers living in the greater Los Angeles area were analyzed using the constant comparison method. Across the three conceptual categories, we derived eight themes: (1) personal motivation; (2) family context; (3) attitude toward formal care; (4) strains; (5) rewards; (6) language and geographic region; (7) knowledge and awareness; and (8) social support and cultural stigma. Our findings demonstrate not only varied experiences in care decisions, caregiving situations, and formal service use but also their interconnectedness. Supporting the influential role of culture and place in dementia caregiving, the findings include positive and negative elements within each domain and provide implications for programs and services to respond to identified needs and barriers.

Keywords: dementia caregiving; culture; place; sociocultural model; Korean Americans; qualitative methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/7/378/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/7/378/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:13:y:2024:i:7:p:378-:d:1440126

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().