What happens to caregivers from another culture? Placing an ethic elder in a nursing home may be perceived as abandonment, an act that brings shame upon the entire family unit. Depending on the ethnic group, there may even be a reluctance to use available aging services. Support groups may be perceived as discussing private family matters in public. Respite care may be linked to shirking responsibility. Family caregivers may feel guilty for just seeking assistance, but although ethnic families desire to care for their elders at home, the demands of modern society may discourage eldercare. The care manager must be aware of this and prompt questions about this in a caregiver assessment used for a caregiver from another culture. Actually, you may be perceived as a threat and using your services may cause guilt.
So when you do a caregiver assessment on aging families from diverse cultures you must know the context of their culture in caregiving and ask questions in a very different way.
