Association between caregivers' characteristics and older care recipients' well-being among Vietnamese immigrant families in the United States

Aims: We examined the association between caregivers' psychological status and their older family members' (care recipients) mental health in the Vietnamese American community (N = 58 dyads). Methods: Logistic regression models were used. Results: Caregivers and care recipients were on average 53 and 75 years old, immigrated at ages 32 and 51, and had 10 and 6 years of formal education, respectively. Approximately two-thirds of caregivers provided care for 20+ h/week for 7 years with the majority of care recipients reporting fair or poor health. Care recipients' physical and cognitive health had a significant association with their depressive symptoms. However, care recipients acting as burdened caregivers' “company” helped themselves and felt less depressed (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.80, 0.99). Conclusion: Leveraging the tradition of Vietnamese multigeneration households, we should promote being a good company to each other that will help the caregiver-care recipient dyad, as well as their family unit when planning future interventions.