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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Winston Tseng, PhD, Carrie L. Graham, PhD, MGS, Susan L. Ivey, MD, MHSA, and Arnab Mukherjea, MPH. Health Research for Action, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 140 Warren Hall #7360, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, 510-643-4461, winston@berkeley.edu

Few studies have examined the role of caregivers in caring for older adults across multicultural communities. This study seeks to address this gap and assesses the experiences and needs of informal caregivers in caring for older adults transitioning from hospital-to-home across African American, Asian American, Caucasian, Latino, and Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. 20 focus groups involving 161 informal caregivers were conducted and examined caregiving experiences, use of services, information resources, unmet needs, and barriers to care. The major findings indicated: (1) informal caregivers were critical to home care and care management; (2) caring for older adults increased caregiver burden and affected work and home life; (3) caregiver services and support programs eased the caregiver burden; (4) cultural and family support networks strengthened caregiver morale and support; (5) health care information and services for caregivers and older adults were inadequate and poor quality; (6) there was lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate services; (7) discrimination by culture and language were perceived in seeking information and services; and (8) immigrant caregivers and older adults encountered more barriers to care than other groups. The health work of cultural and linguistically proficient informal caregivers play central roles in easing the burden of caring for diverse older adults during the hospital-to-home transition. However, they are not reimbursed or supported. Promoting and implementing formalized mechanisms to train, support, and reimburse current and future caregivers will be critical to reducing racial/ethnic disparities and improving quality transitional care of older adults across all communities.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the role of informal caregivers in caring for older adults during the hospital-to-home transition.
• Discuss the major needs and challenges facing caregivers that care for older adults.
• Identify the cross-cultural differences in terms of benefits and barriers for caregivers in caring for older adults across multicultural populations.

Keywords: Caregivers, Cultural Competency

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation