Associate Professor
University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work
Dr. Miyawaki’s overall research has centered on the health and well-being of older adults of color and their family caregivers. Trained as a bilingual geriatric social worker, Dr. Miyawaki has first-hand working experience with family caregivers and their care recipients from a variety of racial/ethnic groups. As a gerontologist, she developed a strong foundation in health disparities research, especially focusing on Asian American populations. She has investigated how Asian American family caregivers’ physical and mental challenges are associated with care recipients’ health conditions including Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
More recently she has focused on health disparities among older Vietnamese immigrants and refugees and their family caregivers based on their culture. She and her team conducted 2 comprehensive health surveys, the Vietnamese Aging and Care Survey (VACS) in 2018 and 2021 collecting the first dyadic data of Vietnamese-origin older adults and their family caregivers in Houston, Texas, which is the first of its kind in the U.S., as well.
Dr. Miyawaki has also been investigating an easily accessible depression intervention for older adults living with mild cognitive impairment (early-stage dementia) and their family caregivers based on the Life Review. She and her team developed an innovative depression intervention, Caregiver-Provided Life Review (C-PLR) that trained family caregivers would deliver life reviews to their loved ones at home. They conducted 2 pilot studies and found the C-PLR to be effective in reducing the care recipients’ depressive symptoms without increasing the caregiver’s burden.
Disclosure information not submitted.