Help-seeking behavior among Southeast Asian refugees

This study examined the help-seeking behavior of Vietnamese, Cambodians, Lao, Hmong, and Chinese-Vietnamese refugees and compared the help-seeking patterns employed by these groups in their native country with those currently used after resettlement in the United States. There were three major findings: (1) intergroup differences in help-seeking behavior were found in Asia and also in the United States. In Asia, Vietnamese were more likely to utilize Western medicine and the Hmong least likely to do so. In the United States, Cambodians were more likely to utilize mainstream services and again the Hmong were less likely to do so; (2) for all groups there was a dramatic change from prominently utilizing traditional medicine in their home country to a higher usage of mainstream services in the United States; (3) regardless of the significant increase in the use of Western medicine, traditional medicine continued to be important for all five Southeast Asian refugee groups after resettlement. Furthermore, subjects from all five groups reported the use of a dual health care system both in Asia and the United States. The implications of these findings for community services and health care providers are discussed.