Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Nov 29;16(11):e0259788.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259788. eCollection 2021.

"It's extremely hard but it's not a burden": A qualitative study of family caregiving for people living with dementia in Vietnam

Huong Nguyen  1 , Trang Nguyen  2 , Duyen Tran  3 , Ladson Hinton  4
Affiliations

"It's extremely hard but it's not a burden": A qualitative study of family caregiving for people living with dementia in Vietnam

Huong Nguyen et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Vietnam is one of the fastest-aging countries in the world with a rising number of people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Families in Vietnam provide most of the care for persons living with dementia, yet our understanding of their experiences and needs is limited. This study examined the family caregiving experience in a semi-rural region outside of central Hanoi from the perspectives of family caregivers and other key informants.

Materials: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 key stakeholders (12 family caregivers and 9 healthcare providers and community leaders). A descriptive, thematic analysis was conducted.

Results: Qualitative data analysis revealed four themes related to the family caregiving experience: 1) perceptions of dementia symptoms as a normal part of aging rather than a disease, 2) caregiving as a moral and expected familial obligation, 3) patterns of caregiving that are heavily influenced by both gender and sibling order, and 4) multiple challenges or hardships, including time constraints, loss of income, increased social isolation, a toll on their perceived physical health, and emotional distress. Caregivers rejected the notion that caregiving was a "burden" and expressed their distress through terms such as frustration, sadness, and exhaustion.

Conclusions: In this low-resource setting, the stress of family caregiving may be amplified by lack of community resources, cultural stigma discouraging outside help-seeking, and economic impact of care provision. The study highlights the vulnerability and predicament of Vietnamese women who often face multiple challenges in their caregiving role as well as the urgent need for the development of community-based programs and supports.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

    1. Fam J, Mahendran R, Kua EH. Dementia care in low and middle-income countries. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2019;32(5):461–4. doi: 10.1097/YCO.0000000000000523 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wimo A, Gauthier S, Prince S. Global estimates of informal care. London: Alzheimer’s Disease International; 2018. Available from: https://www.alzint.org/u/global-estimates-of-informal-care.pdf
    1. Prince MJ, Comas-Herrera A, Knapp M, Guerchet MM, Karagiannidou K. World Alzheimer Report 2016—Improving healthcare for people living with dementia: Coverage, quality and costs now and in the future. London: Alzheimer’s Disease International; 2016. Available from: https://www.alzint.org/u/WorldAlzheimerReport2016.pdf
    1. HelpAge Asia. Ageing population in Vietnam; 2019. Available from: https://ageingasia.org/ageing-population-vietnam/
    1. Nguyen NB, Nguyen H, Nguyen HT, Nguyen BT, Nguyen TT, Nguyen ATP, et al.. Challenges of existing Vietnamese healthcare systems in providing care and sustaining community-based interventions for family caregivers of elderly people with dementia in Vietnam. Vietnam Medical Journal. 2018;468(1):158–62.

Publication types