UCLA releases AAPI Nexus Journal Special Issue on Aging
Melany Dela Cruz-Viesca, melanyd@ucla.edu
For Immediate Use
(310) 206-7738
Los Angeles – The UCLA Asian American Studies Center released its newest issue of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Nexus Journal: Policy, Practice and Community focused on “Aging in Asian American and Pacific Islander communities,” guest edited by Dr. Namkee G. Choi (U.T. Austin) and Dr. Jim Lubben (Boston College). With an ever growing number of older AAPIs, these older adults face additional challenges such as higher poverty rates among all older adults in the United States, lower rates of having private insurance, and many unmet mental health needs. Moreover, with the wide heterogeneity among AAPI older adults, it is more difficult to generalize study findings to all AAPI elders. However, there is a clear need for more research that can help address this population’s challenges.
The practitioners essay by Herb Shon and Ailee Moon describes the outreach and implementation of an education program for an ethnic-specific caregiver group in “A Model for Developing and Implementing a Theory-Driven, Culture-Specific Outreach and Education Program for Korean American Caregivers of People with Alzheimer’s Disease.” Because AAPI caregivers oftentimes struggle with cultural and structural barriers in accessing services, the authors model how a culturally relevant outreach program can benefit caregivers who are themselves immigrants.
Jong Won Min and colleagues, in “Health of Older Asian Americans in California: Findings from California Health Interview Survey,” explore subgroup differences in socioeconomic health factors among Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese elders, which fare less favorably than Non-Hispanic White counterparts. With the significant differences between these populations, the authors provide insight into a range of characteristics that demonstrate the complexity within older Asian American populations.
In the manuscript by Poorni G. Otilingam and Margaret Gatz, the authors are the first to explore “Perceptions of Dementia among Asian Indian Americans.” This significant study describes their perceptions of etiology, help-seeking, treatment, and knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease. Some of their findings call for a need for more public education about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, especially for Asian Indian Americans.
The resource paper by Sela V. Panapasa and colleagues, “Economic Hardship among Elderly Pacific Islanders,” provides a rare look at the economic status of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander elders. The findings help inform policies that need to account for in-group heterogeneity among these minority populations with high poverty and unmet social service needs. Because of the challenges that aging populations pose to social policy, these papers help shape future culturally sensitive programs and services to AAPI elders and families.
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Annual subscriptions for APPI Nexus are $35.00 for individuals and $175.00 for libraries and other institutions. AAPI Nexus is published twice a year: Winter/Spring, and Summer/Fall.