Korean American caregivers: who are they?

To describe the caregiving role in the Korean American family.

Descriptive study.

Thirty Korean American female caregivers were interviewed using a semistructured questionnaire related to sociodemographic background, caregiving history, filial responsibility, family network, cognitive status, dependency level, job-caregiving conflict, family conflict, economic strain, and negative life-style changes.

The Korean American caregivers were elderly wives who were sharing households only with their elderly husbands, and these women were low-income, unemployed, less educated, and regarded their caregiving activity as a final assignment of obligation and duty given to them as spouse.

The Korean traditional cultural norm of filial piety plays a significant role for caregiving activities among Korean American caregivers.

Understanding cultural norms may enable health care providers to look below the surface even though caregivers may not express problems.