Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, Australia.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2013 Oct 22;13:427. doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-13-427.
Older people from culturally and linguistically diverse groups are underrepresented in residential aged care but overrepresented in community aged care in Australia. However, little is known about culturally and linguistically diverse family caregivers in utilising dementia services in Australia because previous studies mainly focused on the majority cultural group. Experiences of caregivers from culturally and linguistically diverse groups who are eligible to utilise dementia services in Australia are needed in order to optimize the utilisation of dementia services for these caregivers.
The aim of the study was to explore the experiences of family caregivers from Chinese, Greek, Italian and Vietnamese groups in utilising dementia services. Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics was used to interpret the experiences of the participants. Focus group discussions and in-depth individual interviews were used to collect data. Data collection was conducted over a six month period in 2011. In total, 46 family caregivers who were caring for 39 persons with dementia participated.
Four themes were revealed: (1) negotiating services for the person with dementia; (2) the impact of acculturation on service utilisation; (3) the characteristics of satisfactory services; and (4) negative experiences in utilising services. The present study revealed that the participation of caregivers from culturally and linguistically diverse groups in planning and managing dementia services ranged markedly from limited participation to full participation.
The findings of this study suggest that caregivers from culturally and linguistically diverse groups need to be fully prepared so they can participate in the utilisation of dementia services available to them in Australia.
在澳大利亚，文化和语言多样化的老年人在养老院中代表性不足，但在社区养老院中则代表性过高。然而，由于之前的研究主要集中在多数族裔群体，因此对于在澳大利亚利用痴呆症服务的文化和语言多样化家庭照顾者知之甚少。为了优化这些照顾者对痴呆症服务的利用，需要了解有资格在澳大利亚利用痴呆症服务的文化和语言多样化群体的照顾者的体验。
本研究的目的是探讨来自中国、希腊、意大利和越南群体的家庭照顾者在利用痴呆症服务方面的体验。伽达默尔的哲学解释学被用来解释参与者的体验。使用焦点小组讨论和深入的个人访谈来收集数据。数据收集于 2011 年的六个月内进行。共有 46 名照顾 39 名痴呆症患者的家庭照顾者参加了研究。
揭示了四个主题：（1）为痴呆症患者协商服务；（2）文化适应对服务利用的影响；（3）满意服务的特征；（4）利用服务的负面体验。本研究表明，文化和语言多样化群体的照顾者参与规划和管理痴呆症服务的程度从有限参与到完全参与差异显著。
本研究的结果表明，文化和语言多样化群体的照顾者需要充分准备，以便能够参与利用澳大利亚为他们提供的痴呆症服务。
