Knowledge of Hospice Care among Korean American Immigrants in Deep South

Despite the benefits of hospice care in end-of-life care, there is a dearth of research on the knowledge or perceptions of hospice care, particularly among immigrants. A handful number of existing studies with this population have mainly used qualitative research methods. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the knowledge about hospice care and identify its predictors. We used cross-sectional data from 256 Korean American immigrants living in Alabama (Mean age = 44.78, range 23–70, 50.4% female). The outcome variable was measured by whether the respondents had heard of hospice care. Independent variables included sociodemographic (age, gender, education, and income), health (functional limitation and chronic conditions), health care access (health literacy, health insurance, unmet medical needs due to the cost, and social isolation). Logistic regression analyses were performed. About 78% of the respondents reported that they had heard of hospice care. Older age (OR=1.05, 95% CI=1.01-1.09, p <.05), being female (OR=7.13, 95% CI=3.18-15.98, p <.001), and higher levels of education (OR=1.68, 95% CI=1.15-2.45) were significantly related to increased odds of knowledge about hospice care. There were no significant roles of health and health care access factors. Our findings suggest sociodemographic gradients present in immigrants’ knowledge about hospice care, emphasizing the need for a targeted intervention to increase the hospice care knowledge.

Community-Engaged Strategies for Recruitment of Korean Americans in Community-Based Research Studies

With increasing numbers of researchers targeting ethnic minorities to address health disparities, it is important to address the unique needs of Korean American (KA) older adults—a “hard to reach” yet one of the most rapidly increasing ethnic and age groups in the nation. The purpose of this paper is to describe the main barriers to research participation and to identify facilitators for recruitment of older KAs. We have analyzed recruitment data pertaining to more than 10 community-based KA research studies we have conducted for the last ten years. There were a number of unique recruitment challenges in regard to the culture, language, and sociodemographic characteristics of the participants. Examples of effective recruitment strategies included: aligning the research agenda with the priorities of the community; establishing collaboration with ethnic churches and ethnic media; recruiting and training bilingual volunteers and community health workers; and placing liaison research staff in the community.

Culture Differences in Advance Care Planning and Implications for Social Work Practice

Advance care planning (ACP) is the process of making plans and decisions regarding end-of-life care (EOLC) in advance while one has the physical and cognitive capacity to do so. However, even if health practitioners recognize the importance of ACP, they may be constrained by social and cultural factors in engaging their clients in ACP. This study examined cultural differences in ACP and various strategies that social workers use to initiate conversations on ACP in a range of settings. Using the case study method, we conducted in-depth interviews with 7 social workers who work in South Korea, 2 Korean-American social workers working in the Korean-American communities in the US, and 3 American social workers serving diverse populations in the US. Their practice sites include: university hospitals, day care centers, a community senior center, a nursing home, and a hospice agency. Social workers in both countries emphasized the need to build rapport with their clients early on and to empower them to take the lead in their ACP while they were still healthy. In Korean and Korean-American communities, social workers recognized their clients’ reluctance to speak about EOLC and highlighted the importance of communicating with their family due to their clients’ preference for family-centered decision-making. When doing this, a step-by-step approach in giving relevant information was recommended. We identified relationship-building, empowerment, and culturally sensitive approaches as common strategies in initiating discussions on ACP in both countries.

The Vertical and Horizontal Relations of Korean and Korean American Older Adults and Their Well-Being

Various relationships are important for the well-being of older adults. This session focuses on the vertical and horizontal relations of Korean and Korean American older adults and their well-being. The purpose of this session is to highlight the importance of intergenerational relations and social involvement of Korean and Korean American older adults. For vertical relations, two studies focus on intergenerational relationships and solidarity. The first study investigated whether intergenerational relationships and social support mediate the distressing consequences of life events, and how this improved the psychological well-being of Korean older adults. The second study developed a standardized measurement tool for intergenerational solidarity because intergenerational conflicts caused by rapid socioeconomic changes have highlighted the importance of strengthening intergenerational solidarity. The third and fourth studies focus on horizontal relations involving social isolation and social involvement. Guided by the double jeopardy hypothesis, the third study examined the health risks posed by the coexistence of social and linguistic isolation in older Korean Americans. As the opposite of social isolation, social involvement was an important factor of social integration of older adults. The fourth study examined volunteering as an example of social involvement by focusing on older adults’ volunteering on the social integration and role identity. Implications of this study suggest not only the importance of social involvement but also the intergenerational relationships on older adults’ well-being.

More Than Meets the Eye: On Facing without Fully Knowing the Queer Worlds around Us

This chapter tracks a recent trend in queer narrative films that minimize psychological transparency, leave plot lines unresolved, and make facial close-ups affectively illegible. Such opacities regarding story and character refocus spectators instead on nuanced operations of power within specific cultural milieus. Thus, these films yield stealth versions of political cinema, hailing audiences into complex acts of richly intersectional social analysis and pushing film’s formal capacities to convey “personal” stories in ways that evade voyeurism and deprioritize identification. After opening with the Oscar-winning Moonlight (2016), which stipulates its lead character’s inscrutability to himself and others, including audiences, this inquiry delves further into three lesser-known contemporaries: Spa Night (2016), about a closeted Korean American teen; They (2017), a meditation on gender transition and national exile; and Tomcat (2016), an Austrian parable of the unknowability of humans and other animals.

The Effect of Ethnicity on Identification of Korean American Speech

Research on ethnic varieties of American English has found that listeners can identify speaker ethnicity from voice alone at above-chance rates. This study aims to extend this research by focusing on the perception of race and ethnicity in the voices of ethnically Korean speakers of English. Bilingual Korean Americans in California provided samples of English speech that were rated by 105 listeners. Listeners rated the speakers on their likelihood of being a certain race or ethnicity (including Asian and White). Listeners who were Korean themselves rated the speakers as more likely to be Asian and Korean, whereas non-Asian listeners rated the speakers as more likely to be White. Non-Asian listeners also demonstrated a negative correlation between rating a voice as Asian and rating a voice as belonging to a native-born American, while Asian listeners did not. Finally, a positive correlation between pitch and perceived Asianness was found for female speakers, corresponding to listeners’ metalinguistic commentary about the hallmarks and stereotypes of Asian or Asian American speech. The findings implicate the listener’s own ethnic identity and familiarity with a speech variety as an important factor in sociolinguistic perception.