ABSTRACT

Objectives

This study aims to examine the help-seeking process of family caregivers for persons with dementia (PWD) in Vietnam, and how health and cultural beliefs shape this process.

Design

Twenty family caregivers of PWD at a geriatric hospital in Northern Vietnam were recruited. A total of 30 face-to-face, semi-structured interviews, including 10 follow-up interviews, were conducted. Structural coding was used first to guide data analysis through four structural codes consistent with the four stages of the help-seeking model: (1) disease and symptom experience; (2) explanatory models for symptom appraisal; (3) decision to seek help; and (4) contact with the sources of help. Then thematic coding was used for more detailed and data-driven initial codes to emerge from the data.

Results

Cultural and health beliefs, particularly collectivist values, such as familism and filial piety, shaped each stage of Vietnamese family caregivers’ help-seeking process. Caregivers experienced different PWD’s symptoms and adopted a mixed explanatory model combining biomedical and folk beliefs to explain the causes of dementia. They highly valued independence, autonomy, devotion to their family, and self-sacrifice, making these values the driving force underlying their self-reliance regime in caregiving. Help-seeking was often delayed until caregivers considered the situation to be beyond their own capacity to manage independently. The family was always the primary informal source of support for caregivers, with additional help sought from friends, neighbors, and religious facilities. Health professionals, if available, were also an important formal source for medical advice.

Conclusions

The results highlight the importance of culture and health beliefs in shaping caregivers’ help-seeking process, and advocate the needs of service development targeting not only Vietnamese family caregivers for PWD, but also caregivers sharing similar collectivist culture in different areas. Interventions and services that are consistent with their values of self-sacrifice, devotion to family, autonomy, and self-reliance are much needed.

中文翻译：

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“他只是老了，你知道的”：文化和健康信仰在塑造越南照顾痴呆症患者的家庭成员寻求帮助过程中的作用

摘要

目标

本研究旨在调查越南痴呆症患者 (PWD) 的家庭照顾者寻求帮助的过程，以及健康和文化信仰如何塑造这一过程。

设计

在越南北部的一家老年医院招募了 20 名 PWD 家庭护理人员。共进行了 30 次面对面的半结构化访谈，其中包括 10 次后续访谈。首先使用结构编码通过与求助模型四个阶段一致的四个结构编码来指导数据分析：（1）疾病和症状体验；(2) 症状评价的解释模型；（三）寻求帮助的决定；(4) 联系求助者。然后主题编码被用于从数据中出现更详细和数据驱动的初始代码。

结果

文化和健康信仰，特别是集体主义价值观，如家庭主义和孝道，塑造了越南家庭照顾者寻求帮助过程的每个阶段。照顾者经历了不同的 PWD 症状，并采用生物医学和民间信仰相结合的混合解释模型来解释痴呆症的原因。他们高度重视独立、自主、对家庭的奉献和自我牺牲，使这些价值观成为他们在照顾方面自力更生的驱动力。寻求帮助往往被推迟，直到护理人员认为情况超出了他们自己独立管理的能力。家庭一直是照顾者的主要非正式支持来源，此外还寻求朋友、邻居和宗教机构的额外帮助。卫生专业人员，如果有的话，

结论

结果强调了文化和健康信念在塑造照顾者寻求帮助过程中的重要性，并倡导服务发展的需求不仅针对越南的残疾人家庭照顾者，而且还针对不同地区具有相似集体主义文化的照顾者。非常需要与其自我牺牲、对家庭的奉献、自主和自力更生的价值观相一致的干预和服务。