This program focuses on forming a support group of caregivers that can serve as a source of strength and support for caregivers that have no outlet for their burden. This is especially true for Asian Americans who tend to be the sole caregivers of their family members. Caregiving is a complicated job, but family caregivers are usually not trained for the job. The concept of support is also not common among Asian cultures, and so depression, exhaustion and total break-down is not uncommon. They learn on their own, with a lot of mistakes leading to unwarranted stress and grief. A support group is definitely warranted; at least it can help to alleviate some of their mental burden. Additional complications also result due to language barriers and lack of transportation.
The caregivers support program was structured to form support groups within senior housing members that spoke the same Asian language. Community health workers that spoke the same language lead the group discussion and trained the group members through discussion topics. The program was offered to Chinese participants at present and would be adopted for other Asian groups in the future.