Physician contact by older Asian Americans: the effects of perceived mental health need
Duy NguyenSilver School of Social Work, New York University, New York, NY, USAObjective: The use of physicians is more common than of behavioral specialists, especially in underserved Asian American communities. Despite a rapidly aging Asian American population, research has overlooked older people....
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Dove Medical Press
2010-11-01
|
Series: | Clinical Interventions in Aging |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.dovepress.com/physician-contact-by-older-asian-americans-the-effects-of-perceived-me-peer-reviewed-article-CIA |
id |
doaj-1ae90b4b92904cf691eeedd2794c977e |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-1ae90b4b92904cf691eeedd2794c977e2020-11-24T23:37:53ZengDove Medical PressClinical Interventions in Aging1178-19982010-11-01Volume 53333365666Physician contact by older Asian Americans: the effects of perceived mental health needDuy NguyenDuy NguyenSilver School of Social Work, New York University, New York, NY, USAObjective: The use of physicians is more common than of behavioral specialists, especially in underserved Asian American communities. Despite a rapidly aging Asian American population, research has overlooked older people. This study examines the way mental health need affects the number of physician contacts by older Asian Americans.Method: This study uses data on self-identified Asian Americans aged over age 50 years derived from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey. A total of 1191 Asian Americans from Chinese, Filipino, Korean, and Vietnamese backgrounds were studied. Replicate weights were applied to account for the survey’s complex sampling methods. Linear regression was used to identify the number of physician contacts.Results: Overall, respondents had seen a doctor an average of five times in the previous 12 months; 7% perceived that they had a mental health need. Perceiving a mental health need was associated with a decreased number of physician contacts for Filipino and Korean Americans.Conclusion: This study revealed interethnic differences among older Asian Americans’ contact with physicians. As older Filipino and Korean Americans who perceive a mental health need have fewer contacts with their physician, correctly identifying mental health needs in the health care system for these groups is crucial. Health and mental health professionals can work toward reducing mental health disparities by accounting for older Asian Americans’ help-seeking patterns when designing evidence-based interventions.Keywords: minority groups, Asians, health service usehttps://www.dovepress.com/physician-contact-by-older-asian-americans-the-effects-of-perceived-me-peer-reviewed-article-CIAmental healthminority groupsAsianshealth service use |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Duy Nguyen |
spellingShingle |
Duy Nguyen Physician contact by older Asian Americans: the effects of perceived mental health need Clinical Interventions in Aging mental health minority groups Asians health service use |
author_facet |
Duy Nguyen |
author_sort |
Duy Nguyen |
title |
Physician contact by older Asian Americans: the effects of perceived mental health need |
title_short |
Physician contact by older Asian Americans: the effects of perceived mental health need |
title_full |
Physician contact by older Asian Americans: the effects of perceived mental health need |
title_fullStr |
Physician contact by older Asian Americans: the effects of perceived mental health need |
title_full_unstemmed |
Physician contact by older Asian Americans: the effects of perceived mental health need |
title_sort |
physician contact by older asian americans: the effects of perceived mental health need |
publisher |
Dove Medical Press |
series |
Clinical Interventions in Aging |
issn |
1178-1998 |
publishDate |
2010-11-01 |
description |
Duy NguyenSilver School of Social Work, New York University, New York, NY, USAObjective: The use of physicians is more common than of behavioral specialists, especially in underserved Asian American communities. Despite a rapidly aging Asian American population, research has overlooked older people. This study examines the way mental health need affects the number of physician contacts by older Asian Americans.Method: This study uses data on self-identified Asian Americans aged over age 50 years derived from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey. A total of 1191 Asian Americans from Chinese, Filipino, Korean, and Vietnamese backgrounds were studied. Replicate weights were applied to account for the survey’s complex sampling methods. Linear regression was used to identify the number of physician contacts.Results: Overall, respondents had seen a doctor an average of five times in the previous 12 months; 7% perceived that they had a mental health need. Perceiving a mental health need was associated with a decreased number of physician contacts for Filipino and Korean Americans.Conclusion: This study revealed interethnic differences among older Asian Americans’ contact with physicians. As older Filipino and Korean Americans who perceive a mental health need have fewer contacts with their physician, correctly identifying mental health needs in the health care system for these groups is crucial. Health and mental health professionals can work toward reducing mental health disparities by accounting for older Asian Americans’ help-seeking patterns when designing evidence-based interventions.Keywords: minority groups, Asians, health service use |
topic |
mental health minority groups Asians health service use |
url |
https://www.dovepress.com/physician-contact-by-older-asian-americans-the-effects-of-perceived-me-peer-reviewed-article-CIA |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT duynguyen physiciancontactbyolderasianamericanstheeffectsofperceivedmentalhealthneed |
_version_ |
1725518514257657856 |