Abstract
This study explores factors associated with willingness to use a nursing home in Asian Americans. Focus is given to demographic variables (age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, and education), health-related variables (chronic medical condition and self-rated health), immigration-related variables (time in the U.S. and acculturation), and family-related variables (family network and family solidarity). Cross-sectional study. Data were drawn from 2551 participants in the 2015 Asian American Quality of Life Survey (aged 18–98). Participants were asked to indicate whether they would be willing to use a nursing home in the future. An affirmative response indicated a personal willingness to use a nursing home. Approximately 38% of the sample demonstrated willingness to use a nursing home. Higher odds for willingness were observed among those with advanced age, female gender, Korean ethnicity (compared with Chinese), better education, presence of a chronic medical condition, longer years of residence in the U.S., and lower levels of family solidarity. Reflecting the current trend of an increase in racial/ethnic minorities in nursing homes, a substantial proportion of the present sample of Asian Americans demonstrated willingness to use a nursing home. Findings on the factors associated with willingness provide implications for policies and services to respond to the long-term care needs of this emerging population.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Nursing home data compendium 2015 edition. https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Provider-Enrollment-and-Certification/CertificationandComplianc/Downloads/nursinghomedatacompendium_508-2015.pdf.
National Center for Health Statistics: Health, United States, 2016. With Chartbook on Long-term Trends in Health. Hyattsville, National Center for Health Statistics; 2017.
Choi NG. Racial/ethnic minority older adults in nursing homes: need for culturally competent care. In: Whitfield KE, Baker TA, editors. Handbook of minority aging. New York: Springer; 2014. pp. 291–312.
Mui AC, Choi NG, Monk A. Long-term care and ethnicity. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group; 1998.
Feng Z, Fennell ML, Tyler DA, Clark M, Mor V. Growth of racial and ethnic minorities in US nursing homes driven by demographics and possible disparities in options. Health Aff. 2011;30:1358–65.
Kleinman A, Eisenberg L, Good B. Culture, illness, and care: clinical lessons from anthropologic and cross-cultural research. Ann Intern Med. 1978;88:251–8.
Smith CS, Hung LC. The influence of eastern philosophy on elder care by Chinese Americans: attitudes toward long-term care. J Transcult Nurs. 2012;23:100–5.
Jang Y, Kim G, Chiriboga DA, Cho S. Willingness to use a nursing home: a study of Korean American elders. J Appl Gerontol. 2008;27:110–7.
Pew Research Center. The rise of Asian Americans. http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2013/04/Asian-Americans-new-full-report-04-2013.pdf.
Hoeffel EM, Rastogi S, Kim MO, Shahid H. The Asian population: 2010. https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-11.pdf.
Gupta R. Consideration of nursing home care placement for the elderly in South Asian families. J Immigr Health. 2002;4:47–56.
McCormick WC, et al. Similarities and differences in attitudes toward long-term care between Japanese Americans and Caucasian Americans. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2002;50:1149–55.
Jang Y. Asian Americans in Austin: final report of the Asian American Quality of Life (AAQoL) Survey. http://austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Communications/4.2_FINAL_AA_in_Austin_report_from_UT.pdf.
Beiser M, Edwards RG. Mental health of immigrants and refugees. New Dir Ment Health Serv. 1994;1994(61):73–86.
Lubben J, Gironda M. Measuring social networks and assessing their benefits. In: Phillipson C, Allan G, Morgan D, editors. Social networks and social exclusion: sociology and policy perspectives. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing; 2004. pp. 20–34.
Mui AC, Shibusawa T. Asian American elders in the twenty-first century: key indicators of well-being. New York: Columbia University Press; 2008.
Sahyoun NR, Pratt LA, Lentzner H, Dey A, Robinson KN. The changing profile of nursing home residents: 1985–1987. Hyattsville: National Center for Health Statistics; 2001.
McCormick WC, Uomoto J, Young H, et al. Attitudes toward use of nursing homes and home care in older Japanese-Americans. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1996;44:769–77.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported in part by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (R01AG047106; PI, Yuri Jang, Ph.D.). The support for data collection was provided by the City of Austin’s Asian American Quality of Life initiative (Contract No. 26-8275-39; PI, Yuri Jang, Ph.D.). Editorial support with manuscript development was provided by the Cain Center for Nursing Research and the Center for Transdisciplinary Collaborative Research in Self-management Science (P30, NR015335) at The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of interest
There are no potential conflicts of interest for all authors. No financial disclosures were reported by the authors of this paper.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jang, Y., Rhee, MK., Cho, Y.J. et al. Willingness to Use a Nursing Home in Asian Americans. J Immigrant Minority Health 21, 668–673 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0792-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0792-8