Help-seeking and service use for dementia in Italian, Greek and Chinese Australians.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the help-seeking strategies and the acceptance of services among a national sample of Italian, Greek and Chinese compared to third generation Australians. METHODS: A cross-sectional telephone survey of 350 Italian, 414 Greek, 437 Chinese and 500 third generation Australians whose households were randomly selected from the national telephone directory was carried out. Participants were asked how they would seek help for a character in a vignette with dementia and what aged care services they would use. RESULTS: The most frequently reported sources of help for all participants were general practitioners (55%), community organisations (27%) and family (26%). Significantly more racial minority participants reported that they would seek help from their families (32%) than did third generation Australians (13%). The percentage of participants who reported they would use aged care services were 96% for day activities, 95% for community nursing, 93% for bus outings, 91% for home help with housework, 88% for carer's support groups, 83% for nursing home care, 78% for one-week respite and 67% for Meals-on-Wheels. Racial minorities were equally or more likely to say that they would use some community-based services than third generation Australians and less likely to use residential respite. Italians were less likely to use permanent residential care. Acculturation parameters were inconsistently associated with help-seeking and service acceptability. CONCLUSIONS: Racial minority groups have a greater preference for community services than third generation Australians. There are differences between racial minority groups on help-seeking and acceptability of services. Education and outreach to these groups needs to be tailored.

Recognition, attitudes and causal beliefs regarding dementia in Italian, Greek and Chinese Australians.

BACKGROUND/AIM: To investigate recognition, attitudes and causal beliefs regarding dementia in Italian, Greek and Chinese Australians in comparison with 3rd generation Australians. Little is known about dementia literacy in these racial and ethnic minority groups. METHODS: A cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted of 350 Italian, 414 Greek, 437 Chinese and 500 3rd generation Australians randomly selected from the telephone directory. RESULTS: Third generation participants (85%) were more likely to recognize dementia symptoms in a vignette in comparison to Italian (61%), Greek (58%) and Chinese (72%) participants. Overall, the racial and ethnic minority groups had more negative attitudes about persons with dementia. The racial and ethnic minority groups were more likely to suggest old age and psychosocial risk factors caused dementia, whereas 3rd generation Australians were more likely to suggest brain disease. Differences between ethnic minority and 3rd generation groups remained after controlling for sociodemographic variables. There were differences between Italian, Greek and Chinese participants on markers of acculturation associated with knowledge and beliefs within each group. CONCLUSIONS: Racial and ethnic minority groups have poor dementia literacy in comparison to 3rd generation Australians. There is a need for dementia education targeted to and tailored for these groups.