CARE Newsletter

In this issue, you will find upcoming events, news, and work that CARE's partners have been conducting to serve the diverse Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities.

*Kindly note that CARE will be transitioning to a quarterly issue

after this month's issue.*

CARE Registry:

Giving AANHPI Communities a Voice Through Research

Currently, AANHPI populations are among the least represented groups in scientific research. The goal of CARE is to overcome barriers to research participation and connect AANHPI adults to various types of research.

As of June 3, 2023, 10,035 people have signed up to increase AANHPIs' representation in research!

Click to watch our 10k celebration video!

Michelle Meow Show:

Latest Developments in Alzheimer's and the AAPI, LGBTQIA + Communities

Tuesday, June 20, 2023 @ 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM PST

The Commonwealth Club of California, Taube Family Auditorium

110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105

Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia. It begins with mild memory loss and progresses to more severe effects, in some cases leading to the loss of the ability to carry on a conversation or respond to the surrounding environment. According to the CDC, in 2020, 5.8 million Americans were living with Alzheimer's; the number of people living with the disease doubles every five years beyond the age of 65; and as many as 14 million people in the United States are projected to have Alzheimer's by the year 2060. The disease and its impact can be experienced in different ways in different communities.  

Join us live as television host Michelle Meow leads a discussion with health experts and Alzheimer's advocates. They'll discuss Alzheimer's awareness, caregiving and the AANHPI stigma, filial piety, a personal caregiving story, LGBTQ caregiving and family dynamics, early detection, and brain health. 

This event is presented both virtually on Zoom and in person in English.

For in-person ticket registration, click here

For virtual live broadcast registration via Zoom, click here

For more information about the event, please click here.

Alzheimer's Association is a CARE community partner. 

CARE Ambassador Program

New CARE Paper Published in the

Alzheimer's & Dementia Journal! 

Asian Americans’ and Pacific Islanders’ preferences in recruitment strategies and messaging for participation in the CARE registry: A discrete choice experiment

This discrete choice experiment (DCE) identified Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) adults’ preferences for recruitment strategies/messaging to enroll in the Collaborative Approach for AAPI Research and Education (CARE) registry for dementia-related research. Findings may inform appropriate tailoring of recruitment strategies and messaging to successfully engage older AAPI participants in an aging-focused research registry. 

New VIP Paper Published in the

Alzheimer's & Dementia Journal! 

Inclusion of Vietnamese Americans: Opportunities to understand dementia disparities

This paper sheds light on the experiences of Vietnamese Americans, the fourth largest Asian subgroup in the US, and their possible impact on late-life cognitive aging. Studying Vietnamese Americans may contribute to a better understanding of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) in general and offer unique opportunities for elucidating life course and sociocultural factors that contribute to cognitive aging disparities.

Dr. Oanh Le Meyer (CARE Co-Investigator) is the principal investigator (PI) of VIP and Dr. Van Ta Park (CARE PI) is the site PI of VIP at UCSF. 

New Paper Published in the

Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities! 

Multiple chronic conditions and disability among Vietnamese older adults: Results from the Vietnamese Aging and Care Survey (VACS)

Using data from Vietnamese-origin older immigrants/refugees in the Houston, Texas area, we assessed their overall health, chronic conditions, disability, depressive symptoms, and cognitive impairment, and examined the association between their chronic conditions and disability by comorbidity clusters. Culturally and linguistically tailored services created by policymakers, healthcare professionals, and local social service agencies are recommended for the well-being of immigrants/refugees who migrated to the U.S. for a better life. Dr. Van Ta Park (CARE PI) is a co-author of this paper.

The KIMCHI Project is Looking for Korean Participants!

The KIMCHI project stands for Koreans Invested in Making Caregivers Health Important. It is a culturally customized project to share research results about Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Diseases (ADRD) Prevention and Advance care planning so that Korean Americans can better take care of themselves and their loved ones’ health. Dr. Van Ta Park (CARE Principal Investigator) is the Principal Investigator for this project.

This project is in collaboration with community partners Somang Society and Asian American Resource Information Network (AARIN).

English & Korean fact sheets are now available for Korean American caregivers and families to learn more about Healthy Cognitive Aging, including risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and holistic approaches to improve overall quality of life.

After reading both the Healthy Cognitive Aging and Caregiving for Loved Ones fact sheets, let us know what you think by taking this quick survey.

Visit the KIMCHI project website to learn more.

Support KIMCHI on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube!

If you are interested in participating in KIMCHI, please fill out this online form and leave the following message in the message box “I found KIMCHI through the CARE e-newsletter.” You can also email kimchi@ucsf.edu to find out how to get involved.

Asians are among the fastest growing populations in the United States and Canada, yet they are underrepresented in Alzheimer’s disease research.

The ACAD study is a collaboration across multiple universities and community partners in the U.S. and Canada to better understand how genetics and lifestyle factors impact Alzheimer’s disease risk in Asian Americans and Asian Canadians. Dr. Van Park (CARE Principal Investigator) is one of the principal investigators for ACAD, and UCSF is one of the recruitment sites. This study will be looking for healthy volunteers, people concerned about their memory and thinking, and people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease who are 60 years old or older. 

Edie Yau (Alzheimer's Association) and Quyen Vuong (International Children Assistance Network) (both CARE Community Advisory Board members) also serve on the ACAD Community Advisory Board. Joyce Cheng, Executive Director of the Chinese Community Health Resource Center (also a CARE Community Advisory Board member), is one of ACAD's community partners.

All participants will be compensated for their time and effort.  

Visit ACAD study website or the animated videos in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, and Vietnamese for more information.

If you are interested in participating in the study,

fill out this online form or email acad@ucsf.edu.

The Vietnamese Insights into Aging Program (VIP) is a study funded by the National Institute on Aging and is a collaboration between academic universities (UC Davis and UCSF) and community-based organizations (ARI and ICAN). The purpose of this study is to better understand factors that impact thinking and memory in the Vietnamese American community. Dr. Oanh Meyer (CARE Co-Investigator) is the Principal Investigator (PI) of VIP and Dr. Van Ta Park (CARE PI) along with several CARE Co-Investigators are also involved in VIP.

We are recruiting volunteers who: 

• identify as Vietnamese American 
• are 65 years or older 
• reside in Northern California 
• can speak either English or Vietnamese
• have immigrated from Vietnam 

All participants will be compensated for their time and effort.  

If you are interested in participating in the VIP study, 

Bay Area residents (San Francisco Bay area including San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, etc.), contact us at ucsfvip@ucsf.edu or (408) 609-9144. 

Sacramento residents, contact us at vip@ucdavis.edu or (916) 432-4197.

Sophie Horiuchi-Forrester is a CARE Community Advisory Board member, whom also serves as the regional director of AARP California in the San Jose Metro office. Prior to joining AARP, her work with older adults was shaped by her experiences as the executive director of Yu-Ai Kai Senior Services in San Jose Japantown, participating in Stanford University’s Successful Aging and End of Life studies program, and her own family caregiving journey.

AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to the more than 100 million Americans 50-plus and their families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also works for individuals in the marketplace by sparking new solutions and allowing carefully chosen, high-quality products and services to carry the AARP name. As a trusted source for news and information, AARP produces the nation's largest circulation publications, AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin.

To learn more, visit aarp.org/about-aarp/, aarp.org/español, or follow @AARP, @AARPenEspañol, and @AARPadvocates on social media.

I think most of the misunderstandings we had amongst our siblings was because some of the siblings did not fully comprehend the severity of her cognitive impairment. So they still believed and sympathized with mamang and refused to see the other side. That created some big conflicts within us siblings, but we love mamang dearly. It was a hard time. It was a struggle because the family was divided and I would say most of the siblings who were nurses were on my side and those non-medical were on the other side.