Asian American Occupational Therapy Practitioners' Perspectives on Supporting the Mental Health of Asian American Caregivers for Older Adults.
Arianna Bayangos, Rawan AlHeresh, Hadeel R Bakhsh and 1 others
PMID 40740277WHAT IT FOUND
Asian American therapists reported that caregivers often hide mental health struggles due to cultural stigma and provider bias.
They recommended using indirect questions about fatigue or worry, avoiding reliance on family members for translation, and actively identifying all involved caregivers rather than assuming family support is sufficient.
Key findings
01Providers noted that assuming Asian American families will naturally care for elders, or believing they are free from hardship due to the 'model minority' myth, leads to overlooking their mental health needs.
02Therapists suggested asking indirect questions about being 'worried', 'scared', or experiencing 'fatigue' to assess mental health risk, as direct questions may be met with resistance due to stigma.
03Participants emphasized the need to ask who is involved in caregiving duties to support all family members, as multigenerational care often involves many people who are not formally identified as caregivers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample was small (12 participants) and skewed toward Southeast Asian Americans (8 participants), with only 3 from the Far East and 1 from the Indian subcontinent. Only licensed occupational therapists and assistants were included; the perspectives of other healthcare providers were not captured. The study relied on self-reported strategies and perceptions, not observed clinical outcomes or patient feedback.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was conducted by a research team at Mass General Brigham.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these strategies as evidence that they improve caregiver mental health outcomes. This study reports what therapists believe works and what barriers they perceive, but it did not test whether these interventions actually reduce caregiver strain or improve patient health.