Qualitative Analysis of Barriers to the Recruitment of Chinese-American Family Caregivers for Dementia Research

This paper details qualitative analysis of interviews with 23 Chinese families and extensive fieldnotes generated by project ethnographers and interviewers in order to identify sociocultural barriers to recruitment that emerged during a 4-year study of dementia caregiving among Chinese families in the Boston area. The analysis identified the following themes: dementia-related changes were construed as a normal part of aging rather than a disease, making it more difficult to identify dementia-affected elders and to recruit families; research participation was viewed as potentially harmful because it can lead to excessive worry; Alzheimer's disease carries a social stigma among Chinese, leading families to shun formal diagnosis and research participation; and practitioners viewed research as an intrusion offering no direct benefit to participants.

Hinton L, Guo Z, Hillygus J, Levkoff S. Working with culture: A qualitative analysis of barriers to the recruitment of Chinese-American family caregivers for dementia research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 2000;15(2):119-317.