UMass Boston Study Identifies Critical Lapses in Health Services for Elderly Asian American Women in the Greater Boston Area

(Boston, MA) Elderly Asian American women are missing out on significant health and social services, such as mammograms, depression screening, and domestic violence prevention, due to the limited availability of bicultural and bilingual services for Asian American elders, according to researchers at UMass Boston’s Institute for Asian American Studies. In their report “A Survey of Health Services and Identification of Needs for Elderly Asian American Women in the Greater Boston Area” authors Connie Chan, co-director of the Institute for Asian American Studies, and Lin Zhan, associate professor of adult gerontological nursing, assess the needs of Asian American elders and identify gaps in services currently provided.

The Asian American population is the fastest growing racial group in Massachusetts, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, and of this group, the elderly comprise approximately 5.6 percent. In addition, the elderly Asian American population has more than doubled in ten years, increasing 106 percent since 1990. Census data also indicates that 25 percent of the Asian American elderly population in greater Boston reported their 1999 income to be at or below poverty levels. Authors Chan and Zhan found Asian American elderly have serious unmet needs for bilingual and bicultural health and social services regardless of income levels.

In a survey of over one hundred Asian American and mainstream health care providers in the greater Boston area, the authors talked with respondents from seventy agencies who reported they did not provide any special services to Asian American elders. These agencies reported that they had a very small percentage, if any, of Asian American elders in their clientele.

The agencies which do provide specific service, fourteen Asian American and ten mainstream health care providers and organizations, reported to Chan and Zhan that they currently offer health care services, social services, home care, and education services to Asian Americans. They also provide supplemental services to Asian American elders, including transportation services, bilingual staff or translation services, public health services such as basic health vaccines, and coordination with other health care providers.

However, Asian American agencies report that need for bilingual, bicultural services is far greater than their capacity to provide them. Even when some services are available to a mainstream elder population, Chan and Zhan write, Asian American elderly often do not participate in such programs because of language and cultural barriers.

As a result, there are many needs of Asian American elders that are not being met. The authors found Asian American elders are in critical need of social supports and companionship. Up to 80 percent of Asian American elders live alone and are isolated and lonely. Social programs, community outreach, and home visitors are in high demand. Chan and Zhan identified the pressing need for more affordable housing, congregate housing, and nursing facilities. A deficiency in medical care services, including mental health, for Asian American elderly emphasize the greater need for bi-cultural and bilingual medical care.

Chan and Zhan found the greatest need among Asian American elderly women is for OB/Gyn healthcare services that include breast cancer screening programs, mammograms, and pap smears. Asian American elderly women also are lacking resources for osteoporosis risk screening, domestic violence prevention and intervention, depression screening and treatment, nutrition counseling, education services, and community support programs.

The authors advocated for an organized collaboration between Asian American service providers and mainstream agencies. As there are not enough Asian American service providers and agencies to serve all the needs of its elderly population, mainstream agencies and providers should work together to better serve Asian American elders. Chan and Zhan believe a guidebook or resource guide listing bilingual and bicultural services provided by social service agencies is a critical resource for Asian Americans, as well as all service providers and state agencies.

For more information on the study or to talk with the authors, please call (617) 287-5650 or (617) 287-5300. Connie Chan will be presenting a talk based on this research at a Women’s Research Forum held on November 20 at 2:30 p.m. in the Chancellor’s Conference Room, 3rd floor, Quinn Administration Building at UMass Boston. The forum is sponsored by the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy.

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11.18.02

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