Department of Social Science, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA.
School of Social Work, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Ethn Health. 2022 Oct;27(7):1483-1500. doi: 10.1080/13557858.2021.1910627. Epub 2021 Apr 12.
This study explored community leaders' understanding of depression among older Korean Americans and barriers to seeking mental health services. Depression is prevalent among older Korean Americans, but they are less likely to seek help from professionals and prefer to use informal methods. Older Korean Americans strongly prefer to maintain their ethnic traditions and use community service agencies provided by their same ethnicity. In this regard, community leaders who provide services for older adults play a significant role in not only advocating for the population but also in developing services and programs for their communities.
In this qualitative study, 12 Korean community leaders who provide services for older adults were interviewed. Data were analyzed thematically, and Nvivo 12 was used to organize the data and to detect relevant themes.
Findings showed that community leaders had an in-depth understanding of the causes of depression from environmental and cultural contexts including isolation, losing independence, cultural factors, and lack of family support. However, although the leaders were aware of the severity of depression among older Korean Americans, they did not understand biologically-based factors; rather, they considered it a natural part of aging. Findings indicated that they were biased towards older adults like older Korean Americans, attributing depressive symptoms to personality issues. They also heavily rely on personal experiences to understand depression instead of on having educational training. Barriers to getting help for older adults include lack of the perceived need of older adults, lack of professionals, and a prevalent stigma against depression that encourages individuals to hide their illness.
The findings indicated that community-based educational training is necessary to increase understanding of depression not only for the community leaders but also for individuals and families.
本研究探讨了社区领导对老年韩裔美国人抑郁的理解以及寻求心理健康服务的障碍。抑郁在老年韩裔美国人中很普遍，但他们不太可能寻求专业帮助，更倾向于使用非专业方法。老年韩裔美国人强烈倾向于保持其族裔传统，并利用其同族裔提供的社区服务机构。在这方面，为老年人提供服务的社区领导不仅在倡导这一群体方面发挥着重要作用，而且在为其社区开发服务和项目方面也发挥着重要作用。
在这项定性研究中，采访了 12 名为老年人提供服务的韩国社区领导。数据进行了主题分析，使用 Nvivo 12 对数据进行组织，并发现相关主题。
研究结果表明，社区领导从环境和文化背景（包括隔离、丧失独立性、文化因素和缺乏家庭支持）深入了解抑郁的原因。然而，尽管领导们意识到老年韩裔美国人中抑郁的严重性，但他们并不了解基于生物学的因素；相反，他们认为这是衰老的自然部分。研究结果表明，他们对老年韩裔美国人等老年人存在偏见，将抑郁症状归因于个性问题。他们还严重依赖个人经验来理解抑郁，而不是通过教育培训。为老年人寻求帮助的障碍包括老年人缺乏感知需求、缺乏专业人员以及对抑郁的普遍污名化，这鼓励个人隐瞒自己的病情。
研究结果表明，有必要进行基于社区的教育培训，以增加社区领导以及个人和家庭对抑郁的理解。
