Providing Care to the Aging of Different Cultures
For anyone that needs to provide care for aging loved ones it can be a difficult task. But, how do you manage to provide care and maintain or obey cultural traditions? In the article, As Parents Age, Asian-Americans Struggle to Obey a Cultural Code, by Tanzina Vega, it takes a look at the struggle to provide care in line with one’s culture in today’s society.
The article talks about the fact that the aging Asian-American population is increasing, as is many different ethnic and cultural populations. People are living longer lives now which has increased the elderly population, that we need to adequately provide care to. Now we also need to factor in the cultural traditions of this aging population.
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The article talks about one group PASSI, “a program offered by Penn Asian Senior Services” (Vega, 2014) that is stepping up and providing culturally adequate care. They provide ethnic food, can speak in the native language, and are versed in the acceptable practices of the Asian culture. This however is only one organization catering to one group of individuals. There is a need for more organizations like this for many different cultures and ethnicities. There is also a need for more education for the healthcare community about different …show more content…
In most situations home health or a healthcare facility is doing most of the caregiving for our loved ones. Our society wants to maintain independence and a lot of the time the individual needing the care is making their own decisions on how they will receive care and what kind of care they wish to have. In other cultures, or countries caregiving means something different. Caregiving is not outsourced it is provided by the family of the aging in their home. Often times medical decisions are not made by the individual but by the family. As the article talks about, there is a shift now with these Asian-Americans, in how to care for their aging. Cultural tradition would have the family caring for and looking after the elderly, but living in America some of these families are not able to provide traditional care for financial or geographically reasons. So what are they to do?
Choosing to get help from either home health or a facility is not easy for these people either. Most facilities are set up for the majority of the population. If we look at placing one of the aging Asian-Americans that does not speak English in a healthcare facility, it would not be easy to find a place that speaks their language, that understands their culture or needs and is a reputable