WHAT IS VIP?
The Vietnamese Insights into Aging Program’s (VIP) research focuses on how stressful life events can impact aging and memory issues in older Vietnamese Americans. Some factors that may increase the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in Vietnamese Americans include early life adversity, trauma, and depression. For example, trauma as a result of the Vietnam War, harsh experiences as refugees, and low socioeconomic status (SES) have been found to affect the mental health of Vietnamese caregivers in the U.S
WHO WE SERVE
The program serves the Vietnamese American community, particularly those in Northern California. It focuses on older adults, especially those at risk for dementia, by studying the impact of various health and life factors on cognitive health. Participants from UC Davis and UC San Francisco are included in the study.
WHAT WE DO
To enroll 285 people at UC Davis and 285 people at UC San Francisco with a total of about 570 people in Northern California. ICAN's roles in this community-research study are to provide support in the outreach, recruitment, and data collection for this 3-year study. We are currently in Y2
WHY IT MATTERS
Although Vietnamese Americans are the 4th largest Asian American subgroup, the community’s risk of dementia is unknown.
Certain health conditions put Vietnamese Americans at higher risk for ADRD compared to Non-Hispanic Whites. These include experiences of early life adversity, war trauma and immigration stress, hypertension, stress, diabetes, and depression.
The Vietnamese Insights into Aging Program (VIP) aims to better understand these factors and how they impact thinking and memory in the Vietnamese American community.