Mental Health of the Asian-American Elderly

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Health Disparity Topic Selection and Analysis: Mental Health of the Asian-American Elderly

Mental Health of the Asian-American Elderly

Asian-Americans constitute an important racial/ethnic minority in the US. A few facts

that have been given by the US Census Bureau include:

• In 2011, the population of Asians with more than one race was estimated at 18.2 million.

• The referred population includes about 50 subgroups with reference to origins, diversity in culture, ethnicity, religious traditions, English proficiency, and geographical and immigration history

• The Asian population has been estimated to about 40.6 million by 2050.

• Most of the Asian population in the US is concentrated in the Western states of California and Hawaii.

(US Census Bureau, 2012).

Literature Review on the Asian-American Mental Health Status

A number of scholarly works have been implicated in the elderly Asian American mental health. Normal ageing could be assumed differently from people with dementia from the Asian origin creating stigmatization, aggravating severe chronic mental illness (Liu, et al., 2008). Asian immigrants with difficulty in English have made them prone to difficulties in communication creating disparities in the health status specially the mental health (Mui, et al., 2007). Recent elderly Asian immigrants have been experiencing acculturation stress, involuntary resettlement, and barriers in stereotypical intergenerational solidarity (Ng & Northcott, 2010). Education and self-efficacy had positive correlations with health promotion and mental well-being in Asian immigrants (Sohng, Sohng, & Yeom, 2002).

Analyses of Asian American Elderly

Population rise for the last 3 decades secondary to the im...

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... and Malays. International Journal

of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24(7), 723-730.

Sohng, K-Y., Sohng, S., & Yeom, H-A. (2002). Health promoting behaviors of elderly Korean

immigrants in the United States. Public Health Nursing, 19(4), 294-300.

Thomas, K. & Snowden, L.R. (2002). Differential response to health insurance: minority

response to health insurance coverage for mental health services. Journal of Mental

Health Policy and Economics, 4(1), 35-41.

Vega, W.A. & Lopez, S.R. (2001). priority issues in Latino mental health services research.

Mental Health Services Research, 3(4), 189-200.

CDC. (2008). The State of Mental Health and Aging in America. Retrieved from:

http://www.cdc.gov/aging/pdf/mental_health.pdf

US Census Bureau. (2012). The Asian Population: 2010. Retrieved from: http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-11.pdf

Asma Awan.

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