Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education
Open Access

Abstract

Korean-American families with disabled family members often face difficulties in obtaining and utilizing government-provided aid. Due to negative societal views, language barriers, and lack of overall knowledge about the family member’s disability and offered aid programs for such disabilities, many Korean-American families are not able to provide the most proper care for their family members. Many Korean-Americans, who are immigrants, express pressure and challenges in dealing with their families’ disabilities. They also lack trust about patient information confidentiality, leading to many Korean-Americans hiding their family member’s disability from medical professionals or government officials.
To investigate this issue, an anonymous survey was distributed to Korean-American communities in California and Georgia. Evaluation of each family’s knowledge of government-provided assist programs was assessed. Furthermore, Koreans’ societal views on disabilities and level of education about various mental disabilities were explored. The survey investigates the causal relationship between the lack of efficient patient-care for these disabled members and the family’s understanding of governmentprovided assistance programs, societal views on disabilities, and their backgrounds.

Biography

David Ahn has completed his BA from the College of William & Mary in Virginia with a major in Economics. His experiences focus on econometric data analysis for public health and sustainable energy initiatives. His work investigates disease prevention, public health, and efficient public policy programs.