Health promotion interventions for Asian American dementia caregivers: an integrative review.

Abstract

Objective: Many dementia caregivers are older adults who face chronic health challenges driven by both aging and sustained caregiving stress. This vulnerability is compounded for Asian American caregivers by systemic health barriers stemming from linguistic, socioeconomic, and immigration factors. This integrative review aimed to synthesize existing evidence on health promotion interventions targeting Asian American dementia caregivers.

Design: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Web of Science from inception to 1 August 2025. The Crowe Critical Appraisal Tool form was used for quality appraisal.

Results: A total of 1,390 articles were identified and 10 articles representing eight studies were included. Four studies were two-arm randomized controlled trials (RCTs); all were pilot or preliminary trials with small to moderate sample sizes. The remaining four studies used single-group intervention designs. Health promotion interventions showed potential for improving depressive symptoms among caregivers in the short term; however, effects on caregiver stress and burden were inconclusive. Retention rates ranged from 71.4% to 100% across follow-up periods of up to 2 years. Acceptability was optimal, based on participants' reported satisfaction and perceived helpfulness.

Conclusion: The evidence base for health promotion interventions among Asian American dementia caregivers is in an early stage of development. Findings regarding the effects of health promotion interventions for Asian American dementia caregivers remain inconclusive due to inconsistencies across studies. Overall, retention feasibility and acceptability appear promising. Future work should clarify and prioritize effective intervention components to achieve desired outcomes and employ theory-driven, person-centered, culturally tailored approaches. More rigorous, fully powered trials with diverse Asian American subgroups are needed to address persistent recruitment challenges and strengthen the evidence base.