General Information
Included in this section are statistics from the US Census Bureau describing this population.

• Population ~ 10 million Asians contribute to the U.S. population; of those 10.5% are Korean.
• Marital Status ~ Married: 59.6% | Never Married: 30.5% | Divorced: 4.6%
• Citizenship Status ~ Native: 22.3% | Foreign born, naturalized citizen: 39.5% | Foreign born, not a citizen: 38.2%
• Language Spoken at Home ~ English only: 18.1% | Non-English at home, but speaks English very well: 31.4% | Non-English at home, English spoken less than well: 50.5%
• Education For individuals 25 years of age and older ~ Less than high school: 13.7% | High school graduate: 21.6% | Some college/associate’s degree: 20.9% | Bachelor’s degree or more: 43.8%
• Occupation ~ Management/Professional: 38.7% | Service: 14.8% | Sales/office: 30.2% | Farming/fishing/forestry: 0.2% | Construction/maintenance: 3.9% | Production/transportation/material moving: 12.2%
• Median Family Income ~ $47,624

*The above information was obtained from the 2000 U.S. Census from the U.S. Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/). Updated information will be available upon the completion of the 2010 Census.

Internet Website Resources
Use this condensed list of information to locate reliable resources on the internet to further your knowledge about the culture of the client you are working with.

• http://www.stanford.edu/group/ethnoger/korean.html
  • Health beliefs
  • Importance of family and kinship
  • Patterns of Health Risk
  • Culturally Appropriate Geriatric Care
• http://personal.uncc.edu/macurran/2002/webproject/asi.htm
  • Traditional Techniques of Healing
• http://bearspace.baylor.edu/Charles_Kemp/www/korean_health.htm
  • Spirituality
  • Communication
  • Education
  • Family & Social Roles
  • Health care beliefs and practices
• www.pbs.org
• www.tolerance.org
• http://www.pbs.org/ancestorsintheamericas/aahistorysites.html#4
• http://newton.uor.edu/Departments%26Programs/AsianStudiesDept/index.html
• http://www.koreasociety.org/
• http://www.stanford.edu/group/hwimori/korean_american_culture.htm
• http://www.allaboutasians.com/asian-korean.html
• http://www.asian-nation.org/

Books and Videos
Included in the list of books and videos that may make you learn more about your client are a list of discussion questions to answer as you read the book or watch the video. These questions are designed to get you to think about the material and apply what you’ve learned to working with your patient.

Books

• Carlson, L.M. (ed.). 1994. American Eyes: New Asian-American Short Stories for Young Adults. New York, NY: H. Holt Co.
• Purnell, L.D, & Paulanka, B.J. (1998). Transcultural Health Care: A Culturally Competent Approach. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.
• Kemp, C.& Rasbridge. L.A. Refugee and Immigrant Health: A Handbook for Health Professionals. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
• Ilpyong, J.K. (2004). Korean-Americans: Past, Present, and Future. Elizabeth, NJ: Hollym International Corporation.
• Hurh, W.M. (1998). Korean Americans (The New Americans). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
• Kim, K.C., Warner, R.S. & Kwon, H.Y. (2001) Korean Americans and Their Religions: Pilgrims and Missionaries from a Different Shore. University Park, PA: Penn State Press.
• Byoung-chul, M. (2004). Ugly Koreans Ugly Americans (Cultural and behavioral differences between Koreans and Americans) Taejon, South Korea: BCM Pub. & Language Center.
• Kibria, N. (2003). Becoming Asian American: Second-Generation Chinese and Korean American Identities. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Yoo, D.K. & Chung, R.H. (2008). Religion and Spirituality in Korean America (Asian American Experience). Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Videos

• Korea-America Society, (Production). (2005). Korea: war, prosperity & democracy. [Motion Picture]. USA: Korea-America Society.
• Gordon, J., & Yoon, K. (Directors). (1997). South Korea: From illiteracy to affluence. [Motion Picture] USA: Films for the Humanities.
• Walsh, R. (Director) (1958). The naked and the dead. [Motion Picture]. USA: Paul Gregory Productions.

*The creators of this website have not previewed all of the above videos and books, therefore it is recommended that you visit PBS.org or tolerance.org for a complete list of books and videos available.

Scholarly Journals and Search Keywords
There are many scholarly journals that contain great information concerning healthcare disparities, cultural groups, and healthcare beliefs. Once you have access to these journals, common keywords or phrases are provided to guide your search and narrow your focus.

Journals

• Alternative therapies in health and medicine
• Journal of the National Medical Association
• Medical Care
• Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health.
• Health Affairs: Project Hope
• Journal of Transcultural Nursing
• Amerasia Journal
  • Published by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, Amerasia Journal is considered the most comprehensive and intellectually provocative single source on Asian American history and culture.
• A.Magazine.com
  • Printed bimonthly, A.Magazine has the largest circulation for any Asian publication in the U.S. The magazine reports on the developments, issues and achievements of Asian Americans.
• AsianWeek
  • Published weekly, AsianWeek is a national English-language newspaper for the Asian Pacific American community.
• Journal of Asian American Studies (JAAS)
  • The official journal of the Association for Asian American Studies, published three times a year, the Journal of Asian American Studies includes original scholarly articles about the multidimensional experiences of Asian American and the Asian diaspora.

Keywords to Use When Searching

• “Korean”
• “Korean American”
• “Healthcare
• “Multicultural healthcare”
• “Healthcare disparities
• “Alternative medicine”
• “Korean medicine”
• “Korean” AND “healthcare
• “Korean” AND “Access to healthcare
• “Korean” AND “religion”