Abstract
Despite being one of the fastest aging countries in the world, Vietnam lacks systemic and comprehensive policies and programs to manage the physical and mental health needs of its elderly population. In this paper, I will review the formal, biomedical system for mental health care and present preliminary results of an ethnographic study on formal mental health services provided through Buddhist temples. Results of the study show that while Vietnamese formal mental health system is under-developed, Buddhist temples serve effectively as a source of help to Vietnamese elderly with mental health problems. In that light, Vietnam should incorporate Buddhist concepts of existence—most importantly, the concept of mindful aging—into its developing system of elder care.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 394-413 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Ageing International |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1 2016 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study is supported partially by the Provost’s Research Grant in Social Sciences and the Walker Institute Research Grant at the University of South Carolina.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
Keywords
- Buddhism
- Elder care
- Mindful ageing
- Vietnam