In the promotion of mental health among Asian Americans, the values and relational focus of the subjects need to be reframed as a strength rather than as a deficit. The concept of co-dependency has been used to influence and shape substance abuse treatment services for the past thirty years. However, the growth of ethnic minorities in the U.S. population has led to the need to develop educational approaches that are responsive to cultural diversity. Furthermore, traditional methodologies of co-dependence assessment and application often neglect the needs of communities such as Asian Americans. The study of cultural competency has emerged in part as a consequence of difficulties encountered in the application of the concept of codependency in the treatment of substance abuse across diverse populations. As such, cultural competency should play a key role in efforts to eliminate health disparities among ethnic minorities in general. This presentation describes the underlying rationale and various methodological issues pertinent to developing social risk indicators for both formal and informal care-giving settings to inform community-level mental health prevention planning and evaluation efforts. In particular, the presentation addresses several critical and often neglected issues such as explication of constructs, research design, type III errors, construct validity, generalizability, and relevance of specific indicators.
Learning Objectives: 1. identify theories concerning the genesis of the concept of codependency and problems with the concept; 2. recognize the potential for misusing the concept among Asian Americans 3. discuss cultural and socioeconomic influences on health care and care-giving behaviors; 4. list various sources of potential bias in cross-cultural research
Keywords: Asian Americans, Community Research
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.