Culture-Related Predictors of Service Barriers Experienced by Chinese Immigrant Family Caregivers

Family caregiving is a stressful process, particularly when adding the complexity brought forth by minority status such as being immigrants or ethnic minorities. With the growth of cultural diversity, it is important to understand family caregiving in different immigrant and ethnic minority populations. This paper assessed service barriers experienced by Chinese immigrant family caregivers and the predictors of different types of barriers. The data were collected from a random sample of Chinese caregivers who were born outside of Canada (N=315). Principal component analysis was performed with the access barriers reported loading onto cultural barriers, administrative problems, circumstantial challenges, perceived negative quality of services, and personal attitude. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify the role of culture-related factors in predicting service barriers, when controlling for the confounding effects of caregivers’ sociodemographic status.The results show that financial factors are significant in predicting the number and types of barriers reported by the caregivers. Culture-related factors play a significant role in predicting the total number of access barriers and the different types of barriers experienced by the family caregivers. The findings indicate the importance of culturally sensitive support for family caregivers so as to reduce the access barriers.