Providing Culturally Respectful Care for Seriously Ill Vietnamese Americans

Vietnamese Americans are a heterogeneous population with a rich, shared experience and historical and cultural influences from Asia and Europe. Societal upheaval resulting from the Vietnam War and varied immigration patterns to the U.S. and levels of acculturation layer complexity to this resilient population. These experiences influence how the communities as a whole and how the family as a unit approach health care issues, their attitudes toward serious illness and care at the end of life. Challenges with caring for this population include lack of resources and training to provide culturally sensitive care, lack of appropriate advance care planning, and lack of interpreters or culture-specific care programs. All contribute to poor end-of-life care. An understanding of how these complexities interplay may help clinicians provide compassionate and patient-centric care to these patients, their families, and their supporting communities. This article provides an overview of culturally effective care for seriously ill Vietnamese American patients and makes recommendations for potential strategies for providing respectful end-of-life care. Author Affiliation: (a) University of California Davis Health, Sacramento, California, USA (b) VA Northern California Health Care System, Mather, California, USA (c) Seattle Colleges, Seattle, Washington, USA (d) California Northstate University College of Medicine, Elk Grove, California, USA (e) Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA (f) VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, USA * Address correspondence to: Vyjeyanthi S. Periyakoil, MD, Director, Stanford Aging and Ethnogeriatrics (SAGE) Center, Director, Palliative Care Education, and Training, Department of Medicine and Department of Neurology (by courtesy) Stanford University School of Medicine, VA Palo Alto Health Care System 1265, Welch Road, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Article History: Accepted 18 March 2019 (miscellaneous) Special Series Editor: Vyjeyanthi S. Periyakoil, MD Byline: Quy N.H. Tran, MD (a,b), Hoang t. Dieu-Hien, RN, MN, MPH, PhD (c), Isabelle N. King, MD (a), Kayla Sheehan, MS (d), Mook-Lan Iglowitz, MD (a), Vyjeyanthi S. Periyakoil, MD [periyakoil@stanford.edu] (e,f,*)