Impact of War and Resettlement on Vietnamese Families Facing Dementia: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT

Objectives

Most Vietnamese immigrants in the U.S. today arrived as political refugees due to the Vietnam War in the late 20^th century. Refugees are disproportionally affected by health and mental health disparities as a result of experiencing distress and potentially traumatic experiences before, during, and after their migration processes. This study involved Vietnamese families facing dementia and used a qualitative approach to investigate participants’ experiences before, during, and right after their resettlement in the U.S.

Methods

In-person interviews were conducted with 11 Vietnamese adults who cared for their family member with dementia. A descriptive analysis approach was used.

Results

Five major themes emerged from the interviews:1) immigrating separately from family members, 2) difficult and unsafe journeys, 3) experiences of loss, 4) lack of support systems in the U.S., and 5) feelings of unhappiness, sadness, or signs of depression.

Conclusions

This study provides a close examination of Vietnamese refugees’ unique backgrounds and how individuals with dementia and their caregivers from this population may be disproportionally impacted by stress.

Clinical Implications

To reduce health disparities, we recommend that providers and policymakers allocate more resources for culturally appropriate routine assessment, treatment, and referrals of those with dementia and their caregivers.

KEYWORDS:

• Dementia
• caregiving
• qualitative analysis
• trauma
• Asian
• refugee issues

Acknowledgments

We would like to sincerely thank the caregivers who participated in this study as well as our community partners—ACC Senior Services and Asian Resources, Inc. (ARI). We also want to acknowledge Debora Paterniti for her guidance on earlier drafts of our interview guide.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical statement

Written consent was obtained in-person from all participants. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of California, Davis (#441522-4).

Notes

1. Vietnamese in this article refers to Vietnamese immigrants in the U.S. While some may self-identify as Vietnamese American (not measured), this article uses Vietnamese for brevity.

2. Specific type of dementia was not examined. The diagnosis of dementia was reported by caregivers.

Additional information

Funding

This work was partially supported by the National Institute on Aging [P30AG010129, K01AG052646, R01AG067541, R24AG063718] and the Alzheimer’s Association [2016-MNIRGD-391433].