| Learning Objective #1: Understand the prevalence and presentation of depressive symptoms among Korean-American caregivers | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Understand the most typical case of somatic presentation of depression in the Korean cultural-bound syndrome, known as “Hwa-Byung” among Korean-American caregivers |
Purpose: To explored the prevalence and presentation of depressive symptoms and Korean cultural-bound syndrome, known as “Hwa-Byung” among Korean-American caregivers of persons with chronic illness at home. Design: Descriptive study with triangulated design Method: A convenience sample of 30 Korean immigrant female caregivers were interviewed face-to-face in Korean in each caregiver’s home based on the semi-structured interview guide in conjunction with a standardized instruments. The “translation-back translation” process was utilized for data collection and analyses. Findings: The Korean-American caregivers scored higher on the CES-D scale. The CES-D scores were confirmed by caregiver’ own descriptions for feelings of depression. The caregivers with high CES-D scores were suffering from “Hwa-Byung” prior to their current caregiving situations. The Korean-American caregivers viewed their emotional distress as ordinary feelings considering their circumstances and did not acknowledge this as depression. They seemed to have a different subjective meaning for depression and were not fully aware of the clinical signs and symptoms of depression. Discussion: The Korean traditional cultural norm of filial obligation plays a significant role for emotional distress among elderly Korean-American caregivers. Implication: The health care providers and policy makers need to understand the impact of the traditional cultural norm on the perceptions of emotional distress among ethnic minority caregivers in order to provide culturally sensitive family cares and educational programs
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Back to 14th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
10-12 July 2003