Social support as a moderator of physical disability and mental health in older Vietnamese immigrants in the U.S.: Results from the Vietnamese aging and care survey (VACS).

After the Vietnam War, 1.3 million Vietnamese migrated to the U.S. where they are the fourth largest Asian American subgroup. However, little is known about their health compared to other Asian subgroups. As such, we developed the Vietnamese Aging and Care Survey to understand older Vietnamese immigrants' health in Houston, Texas (N=132). We examined how social support moderated the relationship between their physical disability and mental health (depressive symptoms and loneliness). Most respondents rated their health as fair/poor and more than half lived in extended family households or senior housing in ethnic enclaves. Having more physical disabilities was associated with higher depressive symptoms and loneliness, but higher social support moderated the effect of physical disability on loneliness. Local policymakers and stakeholders might strategize using the existing culturally and linguistically appropriate daycare centers and home and community-based services to mitigate depression and loneliness among older Vietnamese immigrants with physical disabilities.

Vietnamese Adult-Child and Spousal Caregivers of Older Adults in Houston, Texas: Results from the Vietnamese Aging and Care Survey (VACS).

Vietnamese are the largest Asian ethnic group in Houston, Texas; however, research on this population is scarce. To address this dearth of knowledge, we developed the Vietnamese Aging and Care Survey. The objective of the study was to explore the sociodemographic and health characteristics of Vietnamese adults aged 65 years and older (n = 132) and their family caregivers (n = 64). Adult-child caregivers (n = 41) were aged between 21 and 65 years old. The majority were married, working, female, and in good to excellent health. Spousal caregivers (n = 23) were between 57 and 82 years old, retired, female, and in fair to good health. Adult children received more caregiving-related help from others compared to spousal caregivers; however, they felt more caregiver burden, had more perceived stress, and were in challenging relationships with care recipients. Differences in life stages of adult-child versus spousal caregivers may contribute to these results. Implications are discussed.