Barriers to and unmet needs for supportive services: experiences of Asian-American caregivers

This study examined service barriers to and unmet needs for in-home and community-based supportive services and identified risk factors that were related to unmet service needs reported by Asian American caregivers. Data were extracted from the Family Caregiving in the U.S. Survey, conducted by the National Alliance for Caregivers (NAC) and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) in 1997. The sample included 157 Asian American caregivers whose care receivers used supportive services in the past 12 months. Nearly one half of Asian American caregivers reported service barriers. The barriers they identified most often were related to personal issues that caregivers often felt "too proud to accept it" or "didn't want outsiders coming in." Other frequently reported barriers were related to service providers, including "service is not available," "bureaucracy too complex," or "can't find qualified providers." With respect to unmet service needs, more than one half of caregivers reported that services provided did not meet care receivers' needs. The service needs that caregivers most frequently reported as unmet were adult day care, meal services, and personal care. Results from a negative binomial regression analysis showed that elderly persons' chronic conditions, caregivers' educational attainment, and levels of informal assistance were significantly related to unmet service needs.