Asian American elders experience significantly lower life satisfaction and receive less emotional support than their peers of other races, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.
The research, published in January and peer-reviewed, draws on 2018 data from the California Health Interview Survey, the largest state health survey in the U.S. The sample consisted of nearly 8,200 individuals 65 years and older, including people of Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese descent.
Among Asian Americans, Korean elders reported the lowest level of life satisfaction, at 40 percent. Less than one-third of Korean participants said they received needed social and emotional support, compared to nearly two-thirds of Chinese and Filipino respondents.
DJ Ida, executive director of the National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association, said a number of social and cultural factors make aging a particularly agonizing process for people from marginalized communities.
“In general, mental health needs increase as people get older,” she said, noting that physical and emotional exhaustion, as well as “the sense of anxiety around the meaning of life,” all grow more acute with age. “But our health care facilities are not adequate for the needs of the Asian community.”
Read more at NBCNews.com.
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