Linking Wartime Trauma to Dementia in Vietnamese American Communities

Since the fall of Saigon in 1975, more than 1.2 million Southeast Asian refugees have resettled in the U.S. Many of them have experienced significant trauma. Now, many Vietnamese refugees in the U.S. are at ages where they’re beginning to develop dementia. But like other underrepresented groups in the U.S, they also face barriers to seeking treatment for trauma and dementia.  In this episode of Unfold, we talk to a UC Davis researcher embarking on the first long-term study examining early life contributors to dementia in Vietnamese communities.

 

In this episode:

Oanh Meyer, social psychologist at Alzheimer's Disease Center at UC Davis Health

Duy Nguyen, former child refugee from Vietnam, recent graduate of UC Davis School of Medicine and psychiatry resident at UCSF Fresno