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Between loneliness and belonging: narratives of social isolation among immigrant older adults in Canada

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Abstract

Research points to a higher risk for social isolation and loneliness among new immigrant and refugee older adults. Our article draws from a research project that explored the everyday stories of ageing among 19 diverse immigrant older adults in Canada. To capture their experiences of loneliness and social isolation, we use four illustrative cases derived from a structural approach to life-story narrative. To these we apply the intersectional lifecourse analytical lens to examine how life events, timing and structural forces shape our partici-pants' experiences of social isolation and loneliness. We further explore the global and linked lives of our participants as well as the categories of difference that influence their experiences along the continua of loneliness to belonging, isolation to connection. Finally, we discuss how an understanding of sources of domination and expressions of agency and resistance to these forces might lead us to solutions.

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... Belonging captures the individual's sense of attachment to where they are located but also refects the extent an individual feels accepted by other inhabitants of society [29]. Integration in a post-migration society is not only the responsibility of immigrants, as the receiving society and its governments must provide instruments and resources that allow immigrants to feel that they can belong [30]. Belonging is important in enabling connections within and beyond the immediate family and allowing for a sense of inclusion in society [3,22,30]. ...
... Integration in a post-migration society is not only the responsibility of immigrants, as the receiving society and its governments must provide instruments and resources that allow immigrants to feel that they can belong [30]. Belonging is important in enabling connections within and beyond the immediate family and allowing for a sense of inclusion in society [3,22,30]. When older adults experience social exclusion or feel they do not belong, their access to the institutions, systems, and communities to receive resources becomes limited and inequitable [30,31]. ...
... Belonging is important in enabling connections within and beyond the immediate family and allowing for a sense of inclusion in society [3,22,30]. When older adults experience social exclusion or feel they do not belong, their access to the institutions, systems, and communities to receive resources becomes limited and inequitable [30,31]. ...
Article
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Background and Objectives. Older adults who lack a secure sense of social belonging may report loneliness, isolation, and ostracization in their communities. Little attention has been paid to the perceptions of social belonging among immigrant Muslim older (IMO) women. This study aimed to address this gap by exploring IMO women’s experiences of social belonging. Research Design and Methods. This qualitative descriptive study used photo elicitation and narrative interviewing to draw on the experiences of 14 IMO women living in Edmonton, Canada. An integrative framework of social belonging was used to guide theoretical conceptualizations of what comprises belonging, and a thematic analysis approach was used to highlight factors and influences that shape how participants have constructed their experiences of belonging. Results. The findings suggest that a sense of belonging is influenced by feelings of loneliness and loss, opportunities for community engagement, and social competencies related to maintaining family relationships. Additionally, the findings indicate the importance of IMO women’s perceptions and reflections on aging as these shape their sense of belonging. These findings not only provide insight into the intricate and shifting nature of belonging but also emphasize the need for structural support to benefit both IMO women and the communities they reside in. Discussion and Implications. Cultivating belonging is a collective responsibility involving older women, their social networks, and society at large, including government and public services. A sense of belonging is crucial to counter ageism and promote positive self-perceptions of aging, particularly within ethnocultural communities.
... Moving to a new country creates challenges and predicaments for all migrants, but the situation is particularly difficult for older people (Bolzman, 2014;Pachner et al., 2021;UNHCR, 2021b). A combination of structural socio-economic forces, state policy, host community behaviour, and individual factors may result in older migrants experiencing cultural shocks, financial crises, and feelings of loss and mental stress (Loi & Sundram, 2014) or physical separation from family members (Karlsson & Jönsson, 2020) and from larger social networks (Bolzman, 2014;Koehn et al., 2022). Combined, these difficulties can lead to social isolation (Lin et al., 2016;Massey et al., 2017) and physical and mental health problems (Lupieri, 2022). ...
... Other studies, however, found decreasing loneliness among immigrants over time as they gradually integrated into the host community (Dolberg et al., 2016;Jang et al., 2022;Liu et al., 2017;Salma & Salami, 2020). Precarious immigration status (i.e., in temporary foreign workers, asylum seekers, sponsored family members, super visa holders, undocumented immigrants) impedes older migrants' further access to 6 REFUGE: CANADA'S JOURNAL ON REFUGEES Resettlement of Older Syrian Refugees in Canada many social rights, affects eligibility for many community programs, and can impact individuals' sense of belonging and security in relation to others (Ferrer, 2015;Koehn et al., 2022). ...
... Being unable to talk to family members and friends about concerns and problems causes emotional isolation (Dong & Chang, 2017;Fokkema & Naderi, 2013;Kandula et al., 2018). Additionally, dependency on children in the host country causes a role reversal that is stressful for both the adult children and the older immigrant parents, especially in relation to the parents' loss of authority and independence (Albert, 2021;Koehn et al., 2022;Wang et al., 2017). Some parents are worried about further burdening and increasing tensions for their children (Martin-Matthews et al., 2013;Schoenmakers et al., 2017;Wang et al., 2017). ...
Article
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Existing literature documents how older refugees are at risk of social exclusion and isolation, yet few researchers have investigated the social inclusion of recently (re)settled older Syrian refugees in Canada. Here we apply the social inclusion model to older migrants to analyze the social inclusion of 360 Syrian refugee older adults (51+ years) in Canada. Results indicate that older Syrian refugees tend to have good health, a strong sense of belonging, regular communication with others, and supportive relationships; therefore, they are likely to experience social inclusion, despite education and language challenges. We conclude by discussing the positive structural elements in their resettlement experiences.
... For the social isolation definition, some common key elements are: objective, measure/indicator/condition (of), lacking/no or few/absence/deprivation/minimal, both quantity and frequency, (of) social contacts/connections. However, three studies (Berthold et al., 2018;Morgan et al., 2020;Koehn et al., 2022) acknowledge the subjective components of social isolation. ...
... This is of particular relevance when investigating the experiences of ethnic minority/immigrant older adults, as many within these communities strongly emphasise familial bonds and may also encounter unique barriers to community participation, such as language barriers and social exclusion. Furthermore, three studies include the sense of belonging in their definitions: Koehn et al. (2022Koehn et al. ( : 1118 The measurements of social isolation are less consistent. Only four studies (Jang et al., 2016(Jang et al., , 2021a(Jang et al., , 2021bDiaz et al., 2019) use a standardised scale (i.e. ...
... De Witte and Van Regenmortel (2022), Wu and Penning (2015), Ciobanu and Fokkema (2021) and Vang et al. (2021) utilised the lifecourse approach to examining the timing and duration of migration, and how early life experiences impact loneliness and social isolation in later life. Vang et al. (2021) and Koehn et al. (2022) applied intersectionality theory to highlight the impacts of multiple forms of oppression, such as racism, sexism, classism and nativism. Other theories include Social Identity Model of Identity Change (Jetten et al., 2018), Berry (1980) acculturation strategies model (Klok et al., 2017), convoy model of social relations (Ajrouch, 2008), activity and social engagement theories , sociocultural stress and coping model (Diaz et al., 2019), buffering hypothesis (Wippold et al., 2021), and discrepancy and social stratification theories of wellbeing (Burholt and Dobbs, 2014). ...
Article
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Loneliness and social isolation among older adults are emerging public health concerns. Older adults from ethnic minority communities or with immigration backgrounds may be particularly vulnerable when encountering loneliness and social isolation due to the double jeopardy of their old age and minority status. The goal of this study is to conduct a scoping review of published journal articles on ethnic minority/immigrant older adults' loneliness and social isolation experiences to show the extent, range and nature of empirical studies in this area across several high-income countries ( i.e. European countries, United States of America (USA), Canada, Australia and New Zealand). This review uses Arksey and O'Malley's five-state framework, a well-established scoping review method. We identify and analyse 76 articles published between 1983 and 2021. This evidence base is largely US-focused (54%) with the vast majority (76%) having a quantitative design. We summarise and map factors of loneliness and social isolation into a multi-dimensional socio-ecological model. By doing so, we show how ethnicity/immigration-specific factors and general factors intersect in multiple dimensions across places and time, shaping ethnic minority/immigrant older adults' heterogeneous experiences of loneliness and social isolation. Several critical gaps that should be at the forefront of future research are highlighted and discussed.
... Evidence focusing on the risk factors for loneliness among older adults as both a homogenous and a heterogenous entity abounds. Loneliness among older adults as a homogenous group has been linked to different factors (Dahlberg, McKee, Frank, & Naseer, 2021), including personal, social, and cultural factors (de Jong Gierveld et al., 2015), racially specific demographical factors (Taylor, 2019), unfulfilling social relationships (Hawkley & Kocherginsky, 2018), and migration-related factors (Koehn, Ferrer, & Brotman, 2020), among many others. Similarly, specific studies focusing on loneliness among ethnic minoritized older adults have pointed to several personal and social factors; for example, country of birth (de Jong Gierveld et al., 2015) and reduced neighbourhood social cohesion (Taylor, 2019), as significant risk factors for loneliness. ...
... For example, cultural loneliness can arise from the unavailability of cultural and language preferences. This explains why loneliness is high among immigrants who experience a language barrier when they move to a new country, city, or culture (Ojembe et al., 2023;Koehn et al., 2020). Nevertheless, studies on loneliness rarely explore cultural loneliness related to immigrant older adults, even though cultural loneliness can significantly lead to social and emotional loneliness when lack of language proficiency and exclusion hinder an individual from social integration (van Staden & Coetzee, 2010). ...
... In the study by Garcia Diaz et al. (2019), only four (2.6%) Black participants were included, encumbering the understanding of how cultural expectations contribute to the specific experience of loneliness among Canadian-born and non-Canadian-born BOAs. Even though Statistics Canada reported that the population of older immigrants in Canada increased from 20 per cent in 2011 to 31 per cent in 2016, and the population of Black people has doubled within the last two decades (Kei, Seidel, Ma, & Houshmand, 2019), BOAs continue to be excluded from loneliness research (de Jong Gierveld et al., 2015;Koehn et al., 2020). Therefore, understanding the experience of loneliness among BOAs is warranted. ...
Article
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Loneliness among older adults is a leading health and social concern globally and in Canada, including racialized and minoritized groups. Although previous studies have explored loneliness among ethnic minoritized groups in Canada, little is known about the constellating factors contributing to loneliness among native-born and immigrant Black older adults (BOAs) in Canada and their unique ways of dealing with the experience. Our study explores the constellating factors shaping loneliness experiences among BOAs living in Ontario. Using a narrative approach, we purposively selected and interviewed 13 BOAs. Time as a driver of change, a sense of belonging reinforced through place identity, and challenges of making a new home were dominant themes. Our finding highlights the need for increased cultural sensitivity at the micro and macro levels, which will improve a sense of belonging and reduce loneliness among racialized immigrant older adults.
... It is striking, however, that almost none of these studies focus on the specific, fast-growing group of older refugees. Moreover, the few studies that have been conducted on loneliness among older refugees so far are predominantly small scale and/or qualitative (Strong et al. 2015;Vang et al. 2021;Koehn et al. 2022). Older refugees may be seen as particularly vulnerable to loneliness for various reasons, such as relatively high psychological and physical distress plus greater obstacles to acquiring the host country language, building up new social networks or finding employment compared to younger refugees (Chenoweth and Burdick 2001;Bolzman 2014;WHO 2018;Horn 2021). ...
... Temporal aspects were also at the core for Koehn et al. (2022), who applied an intersectional life course perspective on the experiences of loneliness among relatively new older immigrants and refugees in Canada. Based on the life-story narratives of four older people, they analysed how life events, timing, and contextual factors impacted experiences of loneliness over time. ...
... Given the still-scarce research on older refugees' loneliness, it is primarily literature on loneliness among older migrants, which provides us with a wide array of possible risk and protective factors at the micro and meso levels, and to some extent at the macro level too (Fokkema and Naderi 2013;Victor et al. 2021). As studies from a life course perspective suggest, these factors may play out and interact differently according to context and over time (Koehn et al. 2022;Vang et al. 2021). This leads us to situate research on older refugees' loneliness in a specific space at a specific time, considering the respective prevailing social, cultural, and political environment. ...
Article
Although older refugees can be seen as particularly vulnerable to social isolation and loneliness, they are often overlooked by ageing and migration scholars. This article addresses this research gap by identifying and examining potential drivers of loneliness among older refugees. The study analysed data from the first two waves of the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees, focusing on 958 individuals aged 45 and older who arrived in Germany between 2013 and 2016. Nearly half of the participants reported symptoms of loneliness. The major contributing factors included poor health, financial strain, lack of family ties in Germany, limited contact with Germans, insecure residence status, and perceived hostility towards them. The study highlights the need for a range of interventions at multiple levels targeting not only the older refugees themselves but also institutional arrangements and the people of the host country.
... Broadly, an intersectionality framework expands the understanding of inequality relations between and among groups (Calasanti & King, 2015). The intersectionality framework illuminates how multiple aspects of our identities intersect and influence one another to create unique experiences of inequities and deprivations (Koehn et al., 2020). It further explicates some taken-for-granted assumptions and overlapping power dynamics that might lead to exclusions among a particular group to the degree that is different from the experience of others. ...
... BOALSP2 believes that her experience is not an isolated case, but one that is common to most new older immigrants, irrespective of gender. She noted how new immigrants are faced with setbacks that prevent them from socially participating in the labor industry and building social connections, which is essential for newcomers who are mostly at a higher risk for loneliness and social isolation (Koehn et al., 2020). She noted that when newcomers are denied the opportunity to learn and participate in their community, they "feel odd and do not fit in." ...
... They further reveal the taken-forgranted assumptions of homogeneity surrounding the development and operation of existing programs and services, where such interventions are assumed to adequately address the needs of every individual and group involved. Previous evidence has utilized an intersectionality framework to draw attention to the experience of loneliness among immigrants (Koehn et al., 2020). However, no one has specifically explored representational intersectionality to understand the factors promoting the lack of social participation among Black older adults. ...
Article
Social participation is an effective way to reduce loneliness among older adults. However, little is known about Black older adults’ (BOAs’) poor participation in social programs. This study thus explores the varied factors that shape BOAs’ participation in social programs and services and how lack of social participation contributes to loneliness. 13 BOAs with mean age of 63.8 participated in this narrative study. Misrepresentation of BOAs in social programs and services, lack of opportunity for employment engagement, affordability and accessibility were key themes. These findings highlight the need for integration of strategies to increase cultural diversity in programs in Ontario.
... To operationalize the ILCP, our study integrated life story narratives with photovoice to examine complex and intersecting identities of older immigrants as they navigate institutional structures and relationships with family, community, and the state Koehn et al., 2020). Photovoice is an empowering and participatory methodology used as a tool to enable participants, who are considered experts on matters concerning their own lives and their communities, to voice experience through artistic expression (Lee, 2012). ...
... As we have written previously Koehn et al., 2020), there is considerable potential in using photographs to complement oral histories and stories shared by older people and chosen families. However, there is a danger for researchers to use and present photographs within photovoice as static and essentialist interpretations of people's realities, when in fact, they are meant to be socially and culturally constructed representations of realities (Shankar, 2016). ...
Article
This paper contributes to the growing body of work on precarious labor, immigration, and social gerontology by examining the racialization of precarious employment across the life course. In particular, the authors examine the impact of precarious employment and discrimination among racialized older immigrants in Canada. Racialized older immigrants are more likely to be disadvantaged by the effects of lifelong intersections of economic and social discrimination rooted in racialization, gender, ageism, and socio-economic status. Drawing from a narrative-photovoice project that focused on the life stories of older immigrants living in Quebec and British Columbia, this paper presents the in-depth stories and photographs of four participants to highlight how intersections of race, gender, age, immigration status, and ability shape and structure experiences of aging, labor market participation and caregiving relationships.
... To operationalize the ILCP, our study integrated life story narratives with photovoice to examine complex and intersecting identities of older immigrants as they navigate institutional structures and relationships with family, community, and the state Koehn et al., 2020). Photovoice is an empowering and participatory methodology used as a tool to enable participants, who are considered experts on matters concerning their own lives and their communities, to voice experience through artistic expression (Lee, 2012). ...
... As we have written previously Koehn et al., 2020), there is considerable potential in using photographs to complement oral histories and stories shared by older people and chosen families. However, there is a danger for researchers to use and present photographs within photovoice as static and essentialist interpretations of people's realities, when in fact, they are meant to be socially and culturally constructed representations of realities (Shankar, 2016). ...
Article
This article examines the question of how universities can be encouraged to address the mental health concerns of GLBT-SQ people and communities from a perspective of solidarity. In so doing, the authors take a case study approach, using Project Interaction: The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Two-Spirit Initiative of McGill University's School of Social Work, to critically reflect upon the challenges arising from the development of an alternative organization within academia. The purpose of this reflection is to highlight how normal operations at work on university campuses, and within health and allied health curriculum, can be disrupted with the goal of providing momentum for the creation of affirmative space, the advancement of educational initiatives, and the building of opportunities for social change.
... Factors contributing to social isolation among the elderly include health issues, unemployment, and changing family dynamics. (Koehn, Ferrer and Brotman, 2022). Health problems such as chronic diseases and mental illnesses hinder the elderly from engaging in social activities, exacerbating feelings of loneliness. ...
... Racialized and ethnocultural minority residents in mainstream homes experience issues related to quality of care and quality of life, including high levels of loneliness [16]. Older adults, particularly those who migrated later in life and have challenges speaking English, face significant barriers to participating in activities and accessing social supports [17]. A recent scoping review of immigrant and refugee older adults found that loneliness and social isolation may be exacerbated for racialized and ethnocultural minority older adults because of diminished access to external social networks, lack of available or culturally appropriate activities, and language barriers [18]. ...
Article
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Background Racialized and/or ethnocultural minority older adults in supportive living settings may not have access to appropriate services and activities. Most supportive living facilities are mainstream (not specific to one group); however, culturally specific facilities are purpose-built to accommodate older adults from a particular group. Our objective was to describe the perspectives of diverse participants about access to culturally appropriate care, accessible services, and social and recreation activities in culturally specific and mainstream (non-specific) supportive living facilities. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 people (11 staff, 8 family members, 2 residents) from 7 supportive living homes (2 culturally specific and 5 mainstream) in Alberta, Canada. We used a rapid qualitative inquiry approach to structure the data collection and analysis. Results Staff and family members described challenges in accessing culturally appropriate care in mainstream facilities. Family members expressed guilt and shame when their relative moved to supportive living, and they specifically described long waitlists for beds in culturally specific homes. Once in the facility, language barriers contributed to quality of care issues (e.g., delayed assessments) and challenges accessing recreation and social activities in both mainstream and culturally specific homes. Mainstream facilities often did not have appropriate food options and had limited supports for religious practices. Residents who had better English language proficiency had an easier transition to supportive living. Conclusions Racialized and/or ethnoculturally diverse residents in mainstream supportive living facilities did not receive culturally appropriate care. Creating standalone facilities for every cultural group is not feasible; therefore, we must improve the care in mainstream facilities, including recruiting more diverse staff and integrating a wider range of recreation and religious services and food options.
... The limited research on the health and well-being of Chinese older adults in Canada has primarily focused on barriers and (in) access to care (Guruge et al., 2015;Koehn et al., 2022;Lin, 2022;Vang et al., 2017;Wang et al., 2019). Chinese older adults may face more health challenges Q2 compared with the general Canadian older adult population; this includes poor mental health, poor general health, a higher prevalence of chronic conditions, and limitations in instrumental activities of daily living (Lai, 2004;Lai et al., 2007). ...
Article
Evidence is sparse on how community-based health-promoting programs can be culturally adapted for racially minoritized, immigrant older adult populations. Choose to Move (CTM) is an evidence-based health-promoting program that enhances physical activity and mobility and diminished social isolation and loneliness in older adults in British Columbia, Canada. However, racially minoritized older adults were not reached in initial offerings. We purposively sampled CTM delivery staff ( n = 8) from three not-for-profit organizations, in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, that serve Chinese older adults. We used semistructured interviews, ethnographic observations, and meeting minutes to understand delivery staff’s perspectives on factors that influence CTM adaptations for Chinese older adults. Deductive framework analysis guided by an adaptation framework, Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications-Enhanced, found three dominant cultural- and immigration-related factors influenced CTM adaptations for Chinese older adults: (a) prioritizations, (b) familiarity, and (c) literacy. Findings may influence future program development and delivery to meet the needs of racially minoritized older adult populations.
... Gloria uses the metaphor of vegetables and fruits coming from different countries in comparison to the Finnish produce and relates it to human subjects and trust factor in the Finnish society. These negative experiences of structural racism accumulate over time in a person's life (Phillipson, 2013;Koehn et al., 2022). Structural racism in the job market is linked to inequalities in ageing as racialised groups have lower financial resources in old age than the white population because of the type of jobs they do throughout their lives and due to the way social security benefits are calculated in many countries. ...
Article
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Critical race scholars in social work have underlined the importance of race. However, research in social work with older people have often bypassed analysis of the significance of race and racialisation as barriers that marginalised groups encounter due to their complex identities. The lived experiences of older racialised women in Finland are not sufficiently explored to understand how racialisation has an impact in their ageing. This article aims to address the gap in scholarship on how accumulated experiences of racism from the personal to structural levels throughout the life-course contribute to inequalities in ageing of migrant women. It investigates how older women from non-European migrant background narrate their experiences of racialisation in their everyday lives in Finland. It utilises the theoretical concepts of race, racism and racialisation to interpret the research findings. The article presents empirical findings from semi-structured interviews with twenty older women, which were analysed using a thematic analysis. The article concludes that it is key to recognise racism and its ramifications for ageing migrants in structures beyond the personal level. This study sheds light on the need to better understand the structural inequalities, intersecting identities and the lived experiences of older racialised women to promote social justice.
... In turn, just as ethnocultural gerontologists recognize that transnational relations are about migration and about culture (Koehn et al., 2022), this article considers how to more generatively orient to the long-term care sector as a sociocultural and political context. I draw inspiration from Katz (2020) who refers to nursing homes as sites where "public health politics and cultural narratives about ageing have converged" (p. ...
Article
How do nursing home residents decide when, whether or how to respond to their own and others' care needs when the need to do is constant? What can we learn from them about care politics in our aging society? Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in three long-term residential care homes in Ontario Canada, this article weaves approaches from the arts, humanities and interpretive sociology to respond to these questions. Contextualizing nursing home residents' stories of care within broader sociocultural and political contexts, I consider how they develop critical and creative insights, not only about direct care or nursing home life, but about moral, philosophical and culturally significant questions relevant to care provision. As political actors engaged in a 'politics of responsibility,' they put work into navigating, negotiating and making sense of their own and others' care needs in under-resourced contexts and in relation to circulating narratives about care, aging and disability. Exposed to constant demands to care for others, residents' stories highlight the importance of expanding cultural narratives to embrace embodied differences or care needs, to help people to talk about their own needs or limits, and to organize care as a shared, collective responsibility.
... life events and their relation to loneliness and social isolation (Koehn et al., 2022). This method has been used in previous clinical studies such as constructing sarcoidosis phenotypes (Lin et al., 2022) and clustering of symptom domains related to SARS-CoV-2 (Peluso et al., 2022). ...
Article
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Objectives: In view of the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, psychologists face a challenge to document the pandemic-related change in emotional well-being of individuals and groups and evaluate the emotional response to this fallout over time. Methodsp: We contribute to this goal by analyzing the new CoSoWELL corpus (version 2.0), an 1.8 million-word collection of narratives written by over 1,300 older adults (55+ y.o.) in eight sessions before, during and after the global lockdown. In the narratives, we examined a range of linguistic variables traditionally associated with emotional well-being and observed signs of distress, i.e., lower positivity and heightened levels of fear, anger, and disgust. Results: In most variables, we observed a characteristic timeline of change, i.e., a delayed (by 4 months) and abrupt drop in optimism and increase in negative emotions that reached its peak about 7 months after the lockdown and returned to pre-pandemic levels one year after. Our examination of risk factors showed that higher levels of self-reported loneliness came with elevated levels of negative emotions but did not change the timeline of emotional response to the pandemic. Conclusions: We discuss implications of the findings for theories of emotion regulation.
... This concerned primarily old age (Toepoel, 2013;Havens et al., 2004;Savikko et al., 2005;De Koning, Stathi and Richards, 2017;Smith and Victor, 2019) and, to a lesser extent, adolescence (Rokach and Neto, 2000;Yang and Victor, 2011). Furthermore, loneliness has been studied as pertaining to certain social groups, such as migrant ethnic groups (Koehn, Ferrer and Brotman, 2020;Hurtado-de-Mendoza et al., 2014), as a consequence of social exclusion and precarious living conditions. In so doing, the topic has often been studied with regard to its consequences; e.g., the effects of loneliness on health (Bellucci, 2020;Valtorta et al., 2016), and specifically mental health (Schnittker, 2019); addictions (Ok, 2021;Yoder, Virden III and Amin, 2005); or voting behaviour (Rydgren, 2009). ...
Article
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The paper analyses social causes of loneliness in Europe using cross-national data from the 2017 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) module "Social Networks and Social Resources" from 13 countries categorised as Northern Europe, Continental Europe, and Central and Eastern Europe. The paper aims to examine loneliness with regard to three specific groups of predictors, related to network, socio-cultural and socio-structural aspects. The results suggest that sociability patterns and personal networks are the most important predictors of loneliness. While the frequency of contacts with family members and close friends and the overall number of contacts showed significance, loneliness was primarily related to the quality of personal relationships. Considering socio-cultural factors, the obtained findings showed that social trust is consistently associated with lower levels of loneliness. Furthermore, people from Continental Europe were, in general, less lonely than North and East Europeans. Age was an important factor here as respondents from younger age groups were lonelier in Nordic countries than in the other two blocs of countries, while older respondents were lonelier in Central and East European countries. Finally, socio-structural indicators in general showed less predictive value compared to sociability patterns and socio-cultural variables. However, when it came to socioeconomic exclusion, this aspect showed a stronger connection with loneliness for the individuals from the Nordic group of countries. The findings of this paper contribute to the vibrant field of contemporary scholarship on loneliness with a fresh perspective based on comparing three large blocs of European countries and an integrated approach to various predictors of loneliness.
... As I have illustrated throughout this paper, the experience of these risk factors-and hence 'social isolation [-]is not simply about the experiences of loneliness but is fundamentally connected to structural and systemic forms of discrimination that older immigrants [particularly women] face across the life course and into old age' (Brotman et al. 2019, online;Koehn, Ferrer, and Brotman 2020). ...
Article
Older Punjabi Sikh women are central to their families and communities, but their own needs are often overlooked. Probing the intersections of gender, ethnicity and age and interlocking experiences of sexism, racism and ageism within and beyond their own communities can deepen our understanding of why this happens and what we can do about it. Vertical hierarchies of women that develop in response to male domination, the gendered nature of women’s work and leisure activities, migration patterns that result in generational role reversals, unmet childcare needs, and sponsorship policies that engender dependency and promote isolation of older adults all play a role. These disparate threads are integrated through application of the intersectional life course lens, which recognises the importance of structural influences and oppressions on life course transitions over time and space.
... Such questions are in fact central to Koehn and colleagues' work in BC and Quebec. 97 Reflecting on multiple studies of older Punjabis, especially women, both in India and as immigrants in BC, Koehn 98 unravels multiple intersections of age with gender, ethnicity and immigrant status, to explain the relative 'invisibility; of older immigrant Punjabi women. She explains that, traditionally, vertical hierarchies of women, whereby older women dominate their co-resident son's wives, develop in response to male domination. ...
Technical Report
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The goal of this literature review is to understand intersectional discrimination and its effects on older Canadians, with a specific focus on the diverse experiences of ageism across multiple intersections of marginality. The Government of Canada is especially interested in identifying interventions that can address the effects of such discrimination on older adults’ ability to access and maintain employment and income security, secure housing and age in place, and access health care and other social services. Commissioned by Employment and Social Development Canada's (ESDC) Seniors and Pensions Policy Secretariat's (SPPS)
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Many older adults live with some form of hearing loss and have difficulty understanding speech in the presence of background sound. Experiences resulting from such difficulties include increased listening effort and fatigue. Social interactions may become less appealing in the context of such experiences, and age-related hearing loss is associated with an increased risk of social isolation and associated negative psychosocial health outcomes. However, the precise relationship between age-related hearing loss and social isolation is not well described. Here, we review the literature and synthesize existing work from different domains to propose a framework with three conceptual anchor stages to describe the relation between hearing loss and social isolation: within-situation disengagement from listening, social withdrawal, and social isolation. We describe the distinct characteristics of each stage and suggest potential interventions to mitigate negative impacts of hearing loss on social lives and health. We close by outlining potential implications for researchers and clinicians.
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Loneliness is most often understood as resulting from individual deficits that shape poor social engagement and unsatisfying interactions. As a consequence, interventions to address loneliness most often focus on fixing the lonely individual, for example, by modifying their social appraisals and skills, or encouraging them to get out more. In this paper, we characterize and contribute to changing this dominant narrative by arguing that it is both unhelpful and incomplete. We explain that this dominant narrative (1) increases loneliness and makes people feel worse about this experience, (2) does not account for important predictors of loneliness, (3) guides us to interventions that do not produce sufficiently effective or sustainable change, and (4) hinders broader understandings of the societal impact of loneliness. In this way, we argue that the dominant narrative around loneliness contributes to further setting those who feel lonely apart from the rest of society. We propose that attention to individual factors needs to be complemented by the acknowledgement that loneliness is heavily determined by social and structural conditions that render it unequally distributed in society, a situation that qualifies loneliness as a social justice issue.
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This article reports on a series of Stakeholder Outreach Forums hosted in Canadian communities from 2018 to 2019. These forums built on a previous research project, The Lived Experiences of Aging Immigrants, which sought to amplify the voices of older immigrants through Photovoice and life course narratives analyzed through an intersectional life course perspective. The forums used World Café methods to encourage cumulative discussions among a broad range of stakeholders who work with or influence the lives of immigrant older adults. Participants viewed the previously created Lived Experiences of Aging Immigrants Photovoice exhibit, which provided a springboard for these discussions. The forums’ aim was to increase the stakeholders’ awareness of the experiences of immigrants in Canada as they age and to create space for the stakeholders to reflect upon and discuss the experiences of aging immigrants. Here we illustrate how the forums complement the narrative Photovoice research methodology and highlight the potential of Photovoice and targeted outreach strategies to extend academic research findings to relevant stakeholders. Across all forums, participants identified structural and systemic barriers that shape experiences of and responses to social exclusion in the daily lives of immigrant older adults. They further identified challenges and strengths in their own work specific to the issues of social inclusion, caregiving, housing, and transportation. Intersectoral solutions are needed to address the structural and systemic roots of exclusion at the public policy and organizational levels.
Article
Both loneliness and intersectionality have become well established areas of academic research since the 1970s and 1980s. Nevertheless, only very recently some meaningful connections were made between the two, although researchers have paid attention to the interactive effects of two or more socio-demographic attributes on loneliness. For intersectionality, much of academic research is invested in establishing it as a theoretical approach in tackling social injustice, whilst how it should be studied empirically remains a major challenge. In contrast, research on loneliness has been predominantly empirical, and the small number of studies on loneliness from the intersectional perspective have adopted different research methodologies. This paper proposes and illustrates an approach loyal to the fundamental principles of intersectionality and simple to conduct in empirical investigations at the same time. First, it focuses exclusively on intersectional cross-classifications rather than both the main and the interactional effects; second, it demands a rationale of starting from one attribute and then moving on to include an additional attribute at a time; third, it examines the intersectional cross-classifications and their relationships with the interested outcome systematically without transforming the data in set memberships. The approach is illustrated with analyses of the data collected in Great Britain in the seventh round (2014/15) of European Social Survey. Young people (under 30) of ethnic minority and born inside Great Britain suffered from the highest percentage of frequent loneliness (15%), whilst their counterparts born outside the country enjoyed the lowest rate. Among the middle-aged, ethnicity determined how vulnerable they were to frequent loneliness. For older people (60+) born outside Great Britain, regardless of ethnicity, the percentage of frequent loneliness was 10%.
Article
Objectives: Guided by the theory of stress proliferation, our study examined whether loneliness, citizenship status, and English proficiency were associated with psychological distress among older adults, and if citizenship status and English proficiency moderated these relationships. Methods: Using the older adult subsample (65+ years) of the 2019-2020 California Health Interview Survey (N=15,210), we assessed cross-sectional associations between loneliness, citizenship status, and English proficiency on psychological distress by conducting multivariable linear regression models. Interaction terms were included in subsequent models to determine if citizenship status and English proficiency moderated the relationship between loneliness and psychological distress. Results: In unadjusted models, greater loneliness was associated with higher distress. Both naturalized citizens and non-citizens, and those with limited English proficiency (LEP) exhibited greater distress than native-born citizens and those who speak English only (EO). After adjusting for socio-demographic and health covariables, loneliness remained significant for distress while the relationships for citizenship status and English proficiency became attenuated. With the inclusion of interactions, the magnitude of the relationship between loneliness and distress was stronger for naturalized citizens and those with LEP than native-born citizens and those who speak EO, respectively. Discussion: Loneliness was the most consistent stressor impacting multiple life domains. However, our findings demonstrate that stress proliferation is occurring among older immigrant adults and the interplay between loneliness, citizenship status, and English proficiency is contributing to heightened distress. Further attention is needed in understanding the role of multiple stressors influencing mental health among immigrant older adults.
Chapter
For many Canadian immigrants, language barriers and advanced age complicate the challenge of adjusting to a new culture, new surroundings, and new customs. Within the context of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the emergence of the elderly as the most vulnerable to its effects, these issues have become even more complex. This chapter seeks to reveal what life has been like for a group of immigrant seniors living independently in Vancouver, Canada, by examining lived experiences–through a lens of arts-based educational research (ABER)—and to act as an amplifier for these marginalized voices in Canada. As researchers, we aim to be the connecting element within our study, linking stories of seniors revealed via the ABER method of narrative inquiry, with the public, educators, scholars, and public policy makers. Our research aims to harness understandings revealed through our study, in order to stimulate and demonstrate pathways for supporting seniors living independently in our communities.
Article
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has affected living standards around the world, and pandemic anxiety has changed social habits. In this context, this paper investigates the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and quality of life, and assesses the mediating effect of loneliness on this relationship among a sample of older adults in Turkey. The study considers data from approximately 400 people, all of whom completed the CASP-19 Quality of Life Scale in Older People, the Loneliness Scale for the Elderly and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed to confirm a one-factor structure for each instrument. Subsequently, mediation analysis, correcting for age as a continuous covariate, was performed to assess the nature of the relationship between fear and quality of life, and the extent to which that relationship is mediated by loneliness. Our study showed that there is a negative and direct relationship between loneliness and quality of life. Another important finding of our research is that fear of COVID-19 has a significant effect on loneliness. Finally, loneliness mediates the relation between fear of COVID-19 and quality of life. This finding strongly suggests that fear of COVID-19 influences quality of life via loneliness. This result is noteworthy, as we could not find any similar finding in the literature.
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Background COVID-19 has seriously disrupted health services in many countries including Bangladesh. This research aimed to explore whether Rohingya (forcefully displaced Myanmar nationals) older adults in Bangladesh faced difficulties accessing medicines and routine medical care services amid this pandemic. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted among 416 Rohingya older adults aged 60 years and above residing in Rohingya refugee camps situated in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh and was conducted in October 2020. A purposive sampling technique was followed, and participants’ perceived difficulties in accessing medicines and routine medical care were noted through face-to-face interviews. Binary logistic regression models determined the association between outcome and explanatory variables. Results Overall, one-third of the participants reported difficulties in accessing medicines and routine medical care. Significant factors associated with facing difficulties accessing medicine included feelings of loneliness (adjusted OR (AOR) 3.54, 95% CI 1.93 to 6.48), perceptions that older adults were at the highest risk of COVID-19 (AOR 3.35, 95% CI 1.61 to 6.97) and required additional care during COVID-19 (AOR 6.89, 95% CI 3.62 to 13.13). Also, the notable factors associated with difficulties in receiving routine medical care included living more than 30 min walking distance from the health centre (AOR 3.57, 95% CI 1.95 to 6.56), feelings of loneliness (AOR 2.20, 95% CI 1.25 to 3.87), perception that older adults were at the highest risk of COVID-19 (AOR 2.85, 95% CI 1.36 to 5.99) and perception that they required additional care during the pandemic (AOR 4.55, 95% CI 2.48 to 8.35). Conclusion Many Rohingya older adults faced difficulties in accessing medicines and routine medical care during this pandemic. This call for policy-makers and relevant stakeholders to re-assess emergency preparedness plans including strategies to provide continuing care.
Technical Report
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http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/CONSEIL_INTERC_FR/MEDIA/DOCUMENTS/PAIR-MEP-FR-21-06-28.PDF?fbclid=IwAR3JxxATa8fQjKNahznVjovgzpH9t-74H0oYdOau-KHy2f95z10GsDfZCC8
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This report presents the results of a series of Stakeholder Outreach Forums held over 2018-19 in four regions across Canada – Greater Montréal, Québec City, Calgary, and Greater Vancouver. The outreach forums provided an opportunity for discussion of issues faced by aging immigrants in Canada. The forums built upon a SSHRC Insight Development Grant titled Intersecting Identities and Interlocking Oppressions, led by Drs. Shari Brotman, Sharon Koehn, and Ilyan Ferrer. This research resulted in the development of a narrative photovoice exhibit entitled The Lived Experiences of Aging Immigrants. Our outreach forums brought together stakeholders from multiple sectors to share information and strategize about the actions necessary to improve recognition and support for aging immigrants. Strategic theme areas were chosen for the forums in consultation with community partners, based on findings from the research project. The Lived Experiences of Aging Immigrants photo exhibit and short presentations by key community leaders served as a catalyst for discussions at the forums. The discussions at the forums drew on participants’ decades of knowledge and action around various forms of exclusion and precarity experienced by older immigrants. This report summarizes discussions at the forums on four key theme areas: (1) caregiving; (2) social inclusion; (3) housing; and (4) transportation. The purpose of this report is to provide insight into common problems faced by older immigrants in urban areas in Canada and to inform community action and policymaking at municipal and provincial levels of governance.
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Objectives: Social isolation and loneliness among older people are known to have negative effects on health and wellbeing. Few studies, however, have enabled older people to define these concepts in their own terms. This paper based on research in Aotearoa, New Zealand is the first to comparatively outline the meanings of loneliness and social isolation from the perspective of four ethnically diverse groups of older adults (Māori, Pacific, Asian, and NZ European). Method: We interviewed 44 older people and conducted three focus groups with 32 older people. We used thematic and narrative analyses. Results: Loneliness and social isolation were conceptualized as interconnected concepts described as a ‘look and feel’, a ‘state of mind’ and as a ‘lack of desired companionship’. Participants conveyed sophisticated understandings of the structural underpinnings of both loneliness and social isolation as multi-dimensional, complex, and situated. Conclusions: Older people describe complex and culturally- nuanced understanding and experience of social isolation and loneliness. More culturally appropriate services, greater mental-health support and more service provision on weekends and evenings are needed.
Article
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This project was a secondary hermeneutic analysis of text expressing loneliness or social isolation, gathered in an original study exploring how Chinese, Indian and Korean late-life immigrants participated in New Zealand society. It utilised the 24 interview recordings, initially transcribed in participants’ first languages from nine focus group and 15 individual interviews, and translated into English for analysis. Hermeneutic methods were used to extract and analyse quotes indicative of loneliness or social isolation. The data cohered into three notions: being unsettled, feeling sidelined and being oriented towards social connectedness. Being unsettled names the experiences of disconcerting loneliness or social isolation when previously familiar things, people and places were not there in the host society context. Feeling sidelined names the feelings of being put aside by others or feeling opaque with local communities. Being oriented towards social connectedness expresses these late-life immigrants’ longing to communicate with and to join with others in the community through culturally familiar engagements. A mood of loneliness coloured these late-life immigrants’ resettlement experiences in New Zealand. Yet they turned away from loneliness and sought out encounters with other older immigrants within co-ethnic communities.
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The population of older immigrants in Europe has grown in recent decades. This population consists of two main groups: individuals who migrated as labour migrants and aged in the host country and those who migrated in older age. Because of the double jeopardy of their migration status and older age, both groups are potentially at risk for experiencing ageism in the form of marginalization and social exclusion. As with other groups of older adults, ageism towards older immigrants takes place at different institutional, cultural, social, and individual levels, and in many different contexts. Most immigration studies have failed to recognize older immigrants’ jeopardies as practices of ageism. This chapter discusses policies regarding older immigrants in the context of ageism. The following question is investigated and discussed: Does migrant status constitute a situation of increased vulnerability to ageism? The chapter concludes with recommendations and implications in light of current immigration waves.
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The relationship between living alone, loneliness and social isolation, and how they are associated with health remain contentious. We sought to explore typologies based on shared experiences of loneliness, social isolation and living alone using Latent Class Analysis and determine how these groups may differ in terms of their physical and mental health. We used Wave 7 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (N = 7,032; mean age = 67.3) and responses to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) loneliness scale, household composition, participation in social/societal activities plus frequency of contact with friends, family and relatives for the Latent Class Analysis. The optimal number of groups was identified using model-fit criteria. The socio-demographic characteristics of groups and health outcomes were explored using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. We identified a six-cluster typology: Group 1, no loneliness or isolation; Group 2, moderate loneliness; Group 3, living alone; Group 4, moderate isolation; Group 5, moderate loneliness, living alone; and Group 6, high loneliness, moderate isolation (with high likelihood of living alone). Groups experiencing loneliness and/or isolation were more likely to report poorer physical and mental health even after adjusting for socio-demographic confounders, this was particularly notable for Group 6. Our results indicate that different typologies of living alone, loneliness and isolation can be identified using data-driven techniques, and can be differentiated by the number and severity of issues they experience.
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Objectives: Despite a large body of sociological and psychological literature suggesting that religious activities may mitigate the effects of stress, few studies have investigated the beneficial effects of religious activities among immigrants. Immigrants in particular may stand to benefit from these activities because they often report a religious affiliation and often occupy disadvantaged positions. This study investigates whether private and public religious activities reduce the negative effects of a lack of physical, social, and socio-economic resources on wellbeing among Turkish and Moroccan young-old immigrants in the Netherlands. Method: Using data from the Longitudinal Study Amsterdam, cluster analysis revealed three patterns of absence of resources: physically disadvantaged, multiple disadvantages, and relatively advantaged. Linear regression analysis assessed associations between patterns of resources, religious activities and wellbeing. Results: Persons who are physically disadvantaged or have multiple disadvantages have a lower level of wellbeing compared to persons who are relatively advantaged. More engagement in private religious activities was associated with higher wellbeing. Among those with multiple disadvantages, however, more engagement in private religious activities was associated with lower wellbeing. Public religious activities were not associated with wellbeing in the disadvantaged group. Conclusion: Private religious activities are positively related to wellbeing among Turkish and Moroccan immigrants. In situations where resources are lacking, however, the relation between private religious activities and wellbeing is negative. The study's results highlight the importance of context, disadvantage and type of religious activity for wellbeing. KEYWORDS: Well-being, immigrants, religiosity, structural disadvantage
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The experience of older racial/ethnic minority workers may differ from that of their non-Hispanic White counterparts because of persistent racial/ethnic differences; however, our knowledge of older minority workers is fragmentary. Using the cumulative advantage/disadvantage framework, this study aimed to identify factors that explain older Americans’ labor market participation after age 65 and whether racial/ethnic differences exist among those factors. Using the 2004 and 2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study data, racially separate analyses were performed to systematically compare factors by race. The results showed that factors influencing labor force participation after age 65 were indeed conditioned by race. Health and meaning of work significantly influenced non-Hispanic Whites, whereas home ownership increased the odds of working among non-Hispanic Blacks, and Latinos were concerned with health alone. The findings suggest that older ethnic minorities appear to experience a greater vulnerability to involuntary labor market exit—as opposed to personal preference or financial necessity. This racial/ethnic inequality should be understood not as sudden occurrences in old age, but as a by-product of the interplay between the individuals’ lifetime experiences and the social structures that impose cumulative advantages/disadvantages on them. Continued research will help reduce racial gaps in the next generation of older workers.
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Loneliness and social isolation are major problems for older adults. Interventions and activities aimed at reducing social isolation and loneliness are widely advocated as a solution to this growing problem. The aim of this study was to conduct an integrative review to identify the range and scope of interventions that target social isolation and loneliness among older people, to gain insight into why interventions are successful and to determine the effectiveness of those interventions. Six electronic databases were searched from 2003 until January 2016 for literature relating to interventions with a primary or secondary outcome of reducing or preventing social isolation and/or loneliness among older people. Data evaluation followed Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre guidelines and data analysis was conducted using a descriptive thematic method for synthesising data. The review identified 38 studies. A range of interventions were described which relied on differing mechanisms for reducing social isolation and loneliness. The majority of interventions reported some success in reducing social isolation and loneliness, but the quality of evidence was generally weak. Factors which were associated with the most effective interventions included adaptability, a community development approach, and productive engagement. A wide range of interventions have been developed to tackle social isolation and loneliness among older people. However, the quality of the evidence base is weak and further research is required to provide more robust data on the effectiveness of interventions. Furthermore, there is an urgent need to further develop theoretical understandings of how successful interventions mediate social isolation and loneliness.
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This study aimed to explore the loneliness of several groups of older immigrants in Canada compared to native-born older adults. Data from the Canadian General Social Survey, Cycle 22 (N older adults = 3,692) were used. The dependent variable is the 6 item De Jong Gierveld loneliness scale. Determinants of loneliness included country of birth, ethnic background (cultural context); belongingness (community context) and social networks (social context). Results showed that only some immigrant groups are significantly lonelier than older adults born in Canada. Immigrants with similar language and culture are not lonelier; while those from countries that differ in native language/culture are significantly higher on loneliness. Multivariate analyses showed the importance of cultural background, of composition of the network of relatives and friends, and of local participation and feelings of belonging to the Canadian society in explaining loneliness of older immigrants.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore if and how community organizations providing services to late-in-life Punjabi immigrants in British Columbia, Canada, offer services with the potential to promote their mental health or well-being. The authors also wanted to know how Punjabi seniors perceived available services and if they supported their mental well-being. Design/methodology/approach – To guide the research, the authors used the VicHealth Framework, which identifies three overarching social and economic determinants of mental health: social inclusion (SI), freedom from violence and discrimination, and access to economic resources and participation. This mixed methods study combines descriptive survey and qualitative focus group data with input from Punjabi seniors and community service providers. Findings – All three mental health determinants were identified as important by service providers and seniors, with SI as the most important. Family dynamics (shaped by migration and sponsorship status) influence all three determinants and can promote or diminish mental well-being. Research limitations/implications – The pilot study is limited in sample size and scope and further inquiry with different groups of immigrant older adults is warranted. Practical implications – Service providers assert that more outreach and sustainable funding are needed to reach the majority of potential beneficiaries unable to participate in community programmes. Information on mental well-being of seniors should be targeted at both seniors and their families. Originality/value – The VicHealth Framework provided a unique lens through which to explore the contributions of community organizations to mental health promotion for immigrant older adults.
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Intersectionality theory, developed to address the non-additivity of effects of sex/gender and race/ethnicity but extendable to other domains, allows for the potential to study health and disease at different intersections of identity, social position, processes of oppression or privilege, and policies or institutional practices. Intersectionality has the potential to enrich population health research through improved validity and greater attention to both heterogeneity of effects and causal processes producing health inequalities. Moreover, intersectional population health research may serve to both test and generate new theories. Nevertheless, its implementation within health research to date has been primarily through qualitative research. In this paper, challenges to incorporation of intersectionality into population health research are identified or expanded upon. These include: 1) confusion of quantitative terms used metaphorically in theoretical work with similar-sounding statistical methods; 2) the question of whether all intersectional positions are of equal value, or even of sufficient value for study; 3) distinguishing between intersecting identities, social positions, processes, and policies or other structural factors; 4) reflecting embodiment in how processes of oppression and privilege are measured and analysed; 5) understanding and utilizing appropriate scale for interactions in regression models; 6) structuring interaction or risk modification to best convey effects, and; 7) avoiding assumptions of equidistance or single level in the design of analyses. Addressing these challenges throughout the processes of conceptualizing and planning research and in conducting analyses has the potential to improve researchers' ability to more specifically document inequalities at varying intersectional positions, and to study the potential individual- and group-level causes that may drive these observed inequalities. A greater and more thoughtful incorporation of intersectionality can promote the creation of evidence that is directly useful in population-level interventions such as policy changes, or that is specific enough to be applicable within the social contexts of affected communities.
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Immigrants represent 28%of the Canadian population over 65,and older immigrants–more of them are women –now comprise the majority of the aging population in Canada’s large metropolitan cities. Despite ample research about abuse of older adults in general, few Canadian studies have focused on abuse of older immigrant women. This paper reports policy-relevant findings from a project that aimed to develop a shared program of research to prevent abuse of older immigrant women in Canada. The project involved a review of the literature on elder abuse and immigrant women, local meetings with key stakeholders in seven provinces, a public event in Toronto, and a two-day interdisciplinary symposium with provincial stakeholders. Two significant themes emerged from these activities: the value of bringing together professionals representing multiple disciplines and service sectors as well as older immigrant women and the need for changes in social policies to reduce older immigrant women’s vulnerability to abuse and support their resilience. This paper examines relevant social policy contexts and highlights the previously-overlooked implications of the ideology of familism within policies concerning prevention of abuse and the importance of intersectoral collaboration.
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Members of minority populations often have difficulty knowing about and accessing dementia services. One of the strategies used to promote access is the employment of bilingual/bicultural workers (sometimes referred to as multicultural, link or outreach workers). This study involved interviews with 24 bilingual/bicultural workers in south western Sydney, Australia to gain a better understanding of their role within the dementia field. Seven themes emerged: importance of working with family; process of building trust when moving between two cultures; importance of understanding the culture; self-care and culture; flexibility of their role; linking community members; and linking communities to mainstream services. Bilingual/bicultural workers play a significant and complex role in supporting individuals and families within their community who are affected by dementia. The significance of their role needs to be more clearly acknowledged in the development of policy, further research and service provision within the dementia field.
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Stories are part of everyday life and constitute means for actors to express and negotiate experience. For researchers, they provide a site to examine the meanings people, individually or collectively, ascribe to lived experience. Narratives are not transparent renditions of ‘truth’ but reflect a dynamic interplay between life, experience and story. Placed in their wider socio-political and cultural contexts, stories can provide insights into how forced migrants seek to make sense of displacement and violence, re-establish identity in ruptured life courses and communities, or bear witness to violence and repression. The researcher must pay particular attention to his/her own role in the production of narrative data and the representation of lived experience as text.
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Purpose This paper seeks to explore varied interrelated challenges and barriers experienced by immigrant seniors. Design/methodology/approach Senior immigrants representing diverse ethnicities (Chinese, Afro Caribbean, Former Yugoslavian, Spanish) described their challenges, support needs, and barriers to service access. Service providers and policy makers from organizations serving immigrant seniors were interviewed to elicit their views on barriers to access and appropriateness of services for immigrant seniors. Qualitative methods were employed to enhance understanding of meanings, perceptions, beliefs, values, and behaviors of immigrant seniors, and investigate sensitive issues experienced by vulnerable groups. The qualitative data were subjected to thematic content analysis. Findings Seniors reported financial and language difficulties, health problems, discrimination, family conflicts, and social isolation. Although most immigrant seniors appreciated the standard of living in Canada and the services provided to seniors, most believed that support received was inadequate. Seniors encountered systemic (e.g. government policies), institutional (e.g. culturally inappropriate programs), and personal (e.g. transportation, language problems) barriers to accessing social and health services. Service providers and policy makers faced high costs of programs, inadequate financial and human resources, inadequate information about needs of immigrant seniors, inadequate geographical coverage, and lack of inter‐sectoral collaboration. Practical implications The challenges experienced by immigrant seniors have implications for programs and policies and can inform the development of culturally sensitive and appropriate services. Social implications The barriers encountered by service providers in assisting immigrant seniors point to the importance of inter‐sectoral coordination, cultural sensitivity training, and expansion of service providers' mandates. Originality/value This study revealed numerous unmet needs for successful acculturation of immigrant and refugee seniors in Canada. It also reveals that the most cogent and sustainable approach to close this chasm of support deficits, unattended challenges, and complex stressors is to implement a model that simultaneously addresses the three levels and use a multisectoral approach.
Article
Research on racialized older immigrants does not fully acknowledge the interplay between the life course experiences of diverse populations and the structural conditions that shape these experiences. Our research team has developed the intersectional life course perspective to enhance researchers’ capacity to take account of the cumulative effects of structural discrimination as people experience it throughout the life course, the meanings that people attribute to those experiences, and the implications these have on later life. Here we propose an innovative methodological approach that combines life story narrative and photovoice methods in order to operationalize the intersectional life course. We piloted this approach in a study of the everyday stories of aging among diverse immigrant older adults in two distinct Canadian provinces with the goals of enhancing capacity to account for both context and story and engaging with participants and stakeholders from multiple sectors in order to influence change.
Article
Background and Objectives: The disability paradox postulates that some individuals with severe functional limitations demonstrate psychological resilience, that is, good mental health and quality of life. Resilience to disabilities has been linked to psychological (e.g., mastery) and social factors (e.g., social provisions). It is, however, less clear whether cultural factors can provide additional resources for resilience building in older immigrants. We investigated the extent to which sociodemographic, psychosocial, and cultural factors contributed to psychological resilience to disabilities among immigrants of Turkish and Moroccan descent in the Netherlands. Research Design and Method: The sample included 478 older immigrants aged 55–65 years. Data were analyzed using latent profile analysis and multinomial logistic regressions. Results: Five categories were identified: (a) High physical and emotional functioning; (b) High physical but poor emotional functioning; (c) Low physical but high emotional functioning (resilient); (d) Low physical and emotional functioning; and (e) Low physical and very low emotional functioning. Resilient functioning (reference category) was associated with poorer Dutch language proficiency, lower levels of loneliness, greater mastery, and more religious coping. Discussion and Implications: Findings provide support for the disability paradox and highlight social provisions, mastery, and religiosity/spirituality as important resources for psychological resilience in older labor migrants. Poor Dutch language proficiency is discussed as a potential factor contributing to severe functional limitations in the resilient category.
Chapter
This chapter provides an overview of the social lives of older people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. Social connectedness and participation have been discussed as being primary issues for this group. This is because they have to establish new social networks yet face cultural and linguistic challenges in doing so. In discussing the social aspect of the quality of life of older people from CALD backgrounds, the concepts of social isolation and social exclusion are used. This chapter also describes variations in formal and informal social participation by ethnic backgrounds and the pathways of ageing.
Article
A widely held stereotype associates old age with social isolation and loneliness. However, only 5% to 15% percent of older adults report frequent loneliness. In this study, we report a meta-analysis of the correlates of loneliness in late adulthood. A U-shaped association between age and loneliness is identified. Quality of social network is correlated more strongly with loneliness, compared to quantity; contacts with friends and neighbors show stronger associations with loneliness, compared to contacts with family members. Being a woman, having low socioeconomic status and low competence, and living in nursing homes were also associated with higher loneliness. Age differences in the association of social contacts and competence with loneliness are investigated as well.
Article
Despite the proliferation of studies that specifically employ life course perspectives for contemporary families, an important omission, with only a few exceptions, has been critical inquiry into how race, ethnicity, cultural diversity, and global processes affect individual and family development. Furthermore, this perspective has been seriously underutilized for understanding the diversity of human experiences in global contexts. A focus on these issues should help move the study of families away from the inherent ethnocentric lens that undergirds so much of the discipline. The life course perspective, with its focus on the interplay of micro and macro factors, is a critical theoretical tool in expanding our understanding of context, vantage point, pluralism, and power relationships. New approaches to understanding and incorporating a life course perspective may spur fresh pathways for researchers and policy makers as they attempt to make sense of complex social phenomena.
Article
Objectives: Loneliness and social isolation (L&SI) are associated with physical and cognitive decline in older adults. Walk ‘n’ Talk for your Life (WTL) is a community-based program of socialization, health education, falls prevention exercise and walking for community-dwelling older adults. This qualitative study was done to gain further insight into the experience and impacts of the WTL on seniors’ L&SI. Methods: One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixteen participants who had completed the WTL . Interview questions focused on eliciting a better understanding of how the WTL impacted participants' feelings of L&SI. Content analysis was used to classify the qualitative data . Results: This qualitative evaluation helped to obtain a richer understanding of WTL participants’ reasons for loneliness and the benefits of the program on participants’ experience of L&SI. Participants felt WTL helped motivate them to socialize and reduced their feelings of loneliness by providing a sense of ‘belonging’ which appeared to be mediated by the group exercise/walking component of the program. Discussion/Conclusions: This study provides insight into participants’ experiences of L&SI. Further research in a broader population of older adults is mandated to determine the efficacy of community exercise programs in reducing L&SI.
Article
As a relational epistemology and research methodology, narrative inquiry is one way that people come to know experience through story. Social workers are experienced in working with people’s stories, yet there is a dearth of literature where both social work and narrative inquiry are discussed alongside each other. This paper highlights the particular ways that a researcher commits to living and understanding a narrative view of experience as they engage in research that is relational. It explains some of the language that narrative inquirers use to describe their work, and uses examples from a social work doctoral dissertation to demonstrate the methodological touchstones of a social work narrative inquiry. It concludes with an invitation for social workers to consider narrative inquiry as a process that can guide and advance both clinical practice and social justice work.
Article
Objectives: To identify diverse pathways to linguistic isolation (LI) and explain the differences in LI for older immigrants from different countries. Method: A demographic decomposition of LI was applied to 18 largest origin subgroups of foreign-born, ages 65 and older, in the 2010-2014 American Community Survey data. Results: LI varied from 12% for older Indians to 68% for older Ukrainians. Decomposition analysis identified 3 components: (a) Limited English proficiency (LEP); (b) Solitary living; and (c) Limited English of co-resident others. The relative contribution of components differed by country of origin, pointing to different pathways to LI. Older Mexicans have the highest LEP, but moderate LI due to infrequent solitary living and the English proficiency of co-resident others. Many Chinese and Vietnamese older adults are LI because they live with other LEP adults. Older Europeans' common pathway to LI is solitary living. Discussion: Components of LI in ethnic communities can inform communication strategies for older LEP lacking access to critical information.
Article
RÉSUMÉ Avec le vieillissement de la population canadienne, l’isolement social des personnes âgées constitue une préoccupation croissante et une priorité d’action au niveau national. Bien que les risques individuels de l’isolement social des personnes âgées et les conséquences négatives sur leur santé soient relativement bien connus, les impacts des trajectoires de vie et des expériences collectives sont rarement considérés. Les définitions actuelles et les réponses à cet isolement social se basent sur des programmes qui tendent à privilégier les approches individuelles. Ici nous proposons que la discussion soit élargie afin de considérer les aspects sociaux et culturels de l’isolement social des personnes âgées. En particulier, nous suggérons que les définitions et les approches prennent en compte trois dimensions : les facteurs temporels, les facteurs spatiaux et les liens entre l’isolement social et l’exclusion. Ainsi, nous pensons qu’il serait possible d’élaborer une approche d’intervention plus inclusive face à l’isolement social des personnes âgées, et de développer les capacités en ce sens chez un plus grand nombre d’aînés, en vue de pouvoir répondre, en particulier, aux besoins des personnes âgées les plus vulnérables ou marginalisées.
Book
Transitions and the life course: Challenging the constructions of 'growing old' explores and challenges dominant interpretations of transitions as they relate to ageing and the life course. It takes a unique perspective that draws together ideas about late life as expressed in social policy and socio-cultural constructs of age with lived experience. The book is aimed at academics and students interested in social gerontology, policy studies in health and social care, and older people's accounts of experience.
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Objectives: Ethnic minority elders have high levels of social isolation and loneliness. Assumptions about the family providing enough social support exist in the literature, contradicting ethnic minority elders’ reported levels of isolation and loneliness. While structural barriers influence feelings of isolation and loneliness, limited information exists about the role of cultural factors such as acculturation and family values. Accordingly, this study investigated the roles of acculturation and family values on loneliness and social isolation among ethnic minority elders. Methods: Ethnic minority elders (N = 123) completed a questionnaire that assessed their social connectedness, measured by social network and levels of loneliness, and structural factors such as income. Additionally, cultural and family values were assessed by acculturation and the ‘family as referents’ dimension of familism, which refers to the belief that family members’ behaviour should meet with familial expectations. Results: Statistical analysis using hierarchical regression indicated that ‘family as referents’ and acculturation predicted loneliness, but not social network. Conclusions: This study raises the importance of considering cultural values when investigating predictors of loneliness among ethnic minority elders. Clinical implications: The finding highlight the importance of addressing familial expectations in programs aimed at alleviating loneliness among ethnic minority elders.
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Objectives: This study sought to identify challenges and protective factors for resilience related to the process of aging among older Chinese immigrants in the United States. Methods: This study used qualitative methods and involved 24 in-depth interviews with Chinese immigrants aged 65 or older in Los Angeles. Content analysis was employed to analyze qualitative data. Results: Three major themes emerged regarding challenges older Chinese immigrants encountered in aging in the United States: language barriers, loneliness and social isolation, and insufficient use of social services. Four themes were identified regarding resilience protective factors: acceptance and optimism; independence and autonomy; informal social support; and use of the formal social welfare system. Conclusion: This study provides several implications for future human services to build relational and societal resilience and enhance Chinese older immigrants' personal resilience. Cultural strengths should be taken into consideration by practitioners and policy makers.
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This paper illustrates the concept of reciprocity in the context of immigrant families. It recommends that the definition of reciprocity be extended in order to take account of the complexity and diversity of care that is experienced in immigrant communities. The authors examine reciprocal exchanges beyond the immediate family, render visible the simultaneous location of older people as care recipients and providers, and account for care arrangements inclusive of generations, borders, community, and time. The findings presented in this paper emerged from a critical ethnographic study on the aging and care experiences of older Filipinos in Canada. Extended observations and in-depth semi-structured interviews with 18 older people, 6 adult children, and 13 community stakeholders identified the social policies, services, and structural barriers that impinged on everyday lives and the ways in which immigrant families respond to these barriers through reciprocal care arrangements. Findings highlight the unique configurations of care among the Filipino community whereby older people engage in care exchange as active participants across intergenerational, transnational and fictive kin networks. The results of the study emphasize the need for social workers to recognize and include reciprocal exchanges between intergenerational and transnational families, and fictive kin, in assessments and intervention plans.
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The Seniors Support Services for South Asian Community (S⁴AC) project was developed in response to the underutilization of available recreation and seniors' facilities by South Asian seniors who were especially numerous in a suburban neighbourhood in British Columbia. Addressing the problem required the collaboration of the municipality and a registered non-profit agency offering a wide range of services and programs to immigrant and refugee communities. Through creative outreach and accommodation, the project has engaged more than 100 Punjabi-speaking seniors annually in diverse exercise activities. Case study research methods with staff and current and former senior participants of S⁴AC include participant observation, individual interviews, and focus groups. Viewed through the critical interpretive lens of the candidacy framework, findings reveal the myriad ways in which access to health promotion and physical activity for immigrant older adults is a complex iterative process of negotiation at multiple levels.
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RÉSUMÉ En ce moment, de nombreux immigrants n’ont pas droit à participer au régime de retraite publique du Canada en raison des critères de résidence légale. De plus, des décennies de faible revenu et de l’exclusion du marché du travail défendent à nombreux immigrants canadiens d’augmenter une épargne-pension ou des économies suffisantes tout au long de la période de la vie quand ils travaillent. Ces facteurs, pris ensemble, posent de sérieuses préoccupations pour le bien-être des immigrants âgés. À l’aide des données du recensement canadien pendant une période de vingt ans (1991–2011), nous constatons que les revenus tirés des épargnes et des investissements personnels ont fortement diminué chez les canadiens d’origine et les immigrants, les dernières cohortes d’immigrants étant les plus touchées. Toutefois, depuis 1991, les hommes d’origine canadienne et les immigrants vivant au Canada depuis 40 ans ou plus ont montré des gains importants dans les pensions des employeurs privés. Ainsi, les données montrent un écart inquiétant de plus en plus grand entre les hommes nés au Canada et tous les autres au Canada, les nouveaux immigrants et les femmes étant les plus démunis.
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This article proposes the development of an intersectional life course perspective that is capable of exploring the links between structural inequalities and the lived experience of aging among racialized older people. Merging key concepts from intersectionality and life course perspectives, the authors suggest an analytic approach to better account for the connections between individual narratives and systems of domination that impinge upon the everyday lives of racialized older people. Our proposed intersectional life course perspective includes four dimensions: 1) identifying key events and their timing, 2) examining locally and globally linked lives, 3) exploring categories of difference and how they shape identities, 4) and assessing how processes of differentiation, and systems of domination shape the lives, agency and resistance among older people. Although applicable to various forms of marginalization, we examine the interplay of racialization, immigration, labour and care in later life to highlight relationships between systems, events, trajectories, and linked lives. The illustrative case example used in this paper emerged from a larger critical ethnographic study of aging in the Filipino community in Montreal, Canada. We suggest that an intersectional life course perspective has the potential to facilitate a deeper understanding of the nexus of structural, personal and relational processes that are experienced by diverse groups of older people across the life course and into late life.
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The purpose of this study is to see whether involvement in religion is associated with loneliness and health. A theoretical model is developed to explain how the potentially beneficial effects of religiousness arise. The following core hypotheses are embedded in this conceptual scheme: (a) people who attend worship services more often are more likely to receive informal spiritual support from fellow church members (spiritual support is assistance which is provided in order to bolster the religious beliefs and behaviors of the recipient); (b) spiritual support from coreligionists encourages people to adopt the virtue of humility; (c) people who are more humble are more likely to receive emotional support from significant others; (d) individuals who receive more emotional support will feel less lonely; and (e) people who feel less lonely tend to enjoy better health. Data from a recent nationwide survey provide support for each of these hypotheses.
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This study aimed to explore the gender differences in the experiences of loneliness in the U.S. Chinese older population. The data were drawn from the PINE study, a population-based study of U.S. Chinese adults aged 60 years and older. The Revised-University of California at Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (R-UCLA) was used to measure loneliness. Overall, older Chinese women (28.3%) had a higher rate of loneliness than older men (23.3%, p < .001). In particular, women were more likely to sometimes or often experience a lack of companionship than men (22.9% vs. 17.3%, p < .001). Older women living with fewer people, with lower health status, poorer quality of life, and worsening health changes over the past year were more likely than men to experience any loneliness. This study indicates that gender differences exist in the prevalence, symptoms, and correlates of loneliness. Longitudinal studies should be undertaken to understand gender differences in risk factors and outcomes of loneliness.
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This study focuses on the social wellbeing of older migrants in Italy, an important yet neglected topic in the Italian political and scholarly debate. Knowledge about the lived experience of loneliness and its perceived causes was gathered by means of 34 in-depth interviews with Albanian and Moroccan migrants aged 50 and above living in the Marche region. Our findings show that the participants are surrounded by family and are largely satisfied with the contact they have with relatives; this protects them from social isolation but not from loneliness. Although they rarely express this to their spouse and friends (men) or their children (men and women), feelings of loneliness are widely experienced among the participants. The root of their loneliness largely relates to a lack of meaningful relationships with non-related age peers – having a chat, remembering old times, socialising with others when family members are busy, talking about intimate matters they cannot or will not share with relatives – which supports the argument of loneliness scholars that different types of relationships serve different functions and fulfil different needs. Having more contact with people outside the family circle, especially with co-ethnic peers, could reduce these feelings of loneliness substantially, but factors such as discrimination and lack of Italian language proficiency, free time, financial resources and nearby contact facilities are hindrances. These factors offer clues for public loneliness interventions.
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Close to 13 percent of the U.S. population is foreign-born, and about 12 percent of the immigrant population are ages 65 and older. Traditionally, the health of immigrants, especially those from developing countries, has benefitted from improved living conditions in their destination country, but as years go by immigrants' health can deteriorate. Social relationships through neighborhood connections, religious involvement, family and friends are key to helping immigrants acclimate and remain healthy. It's important for practitioners to understand vulnerability to disease and disability in late life by assessing the daily lives and social relationships of older immigrants.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine disjunctures between the ways in which Canada’s Parent and Grandparent Supervisa is framed within policy documents and press releases, and how it is actually experienced by older adults and their adult children from the Global South who engage in intergenerational care exchanges once they reunify. Design/methodology/approach – A case study involving qualitative interviews with a married couple (adult children), and official texts from Citizenship and Immigration Canada were analyzed, and subsequently categorized according to themes. Findings – The findings of this paper first demonstrate how policies such as the Parent and Grandparent Supervisa and the revamped Family Sponsorship program are ostensibly made to alleviate the significant backlog of family reunification applications, but in reality streamline and categorize older adults from the Global South as visitors who are given minimal state entitlements. Second, the Parent and Grandparent Supervisa reinforces forms of structured dependency by placing the responsibility and burden of care onto sponsors who must provide financial, social, and health care to their older parents. Finally, official statements on the Parent and Grandparent Supervisa and restructured Family Sponsorship program ignore the complex intergenerational exchanges that take place to ensure the survival of the family unit. Research limitations/implications – Given the nature of the case study’s design, the study’s findings speak to the experiences of Analyn and Edwin; adult children who sponsored an older parent under the Parent and Grandparent Supervisa. Given the recency of the program, the issues highlighted provide a much-needed starting point in examining the Supervisa’s impact on families from the Global South. Moreover, future studies could critically assess how the highly gendered nature of care is experienced under Canada’s temporary reunification programs. Practical implications – The study highlights the everyday challenges of sponsoring a parent under the Parent and Grandparent Supervisa. These issues are particularly important for policy makers and practitioners to assess and understand how such policies transform dynamics of care for families from the Global South. The unbalanced power dynamics raises questions on how to best support overburdened adult children, and vulnerable older parents who have no access to state resources. Originality/value – The findings of this paper further the understanding of how families from the Global South provide and receive care under the Parent and Grandparent Supervisa. These experiences, however, are neglected within official state policies which frame older newcomers as visitors who are managed, and denied entitlements to state resources. Revealing disjunctures between policy and lived experiences can assist service providers, professionals, and policy makers to recognize how programs like the Parent and Grandparent Supervisa overburden the family unit, and exacerbate conditions of poverty and marginalization.
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Although the loneliness of both older adults and immigrants is frequently asserted, knowledge regarding the implications of immigration for loneliness in later life is limited. In particular, little attention has been directed to the impact of factors that might differentiate individuals within the immigrant population. Using data from the 2007 General Social Survey (GSS-21) conducted by Statistics Canada, this study examined the effects of immigrant status as well as immigrant generation, length of residence in Canada and race/ethnicity on loneliness among adults aged 60 and over (N=10,553). Regression analyses (ordinary least squares) estimating both the general and age-specific effects of immigrant experience on loneliness, indicated that immigrants report higher levels of loneliness than native-born Canadians, that race/ethnicity influenced loneliness particularly among immigrants and that generational status as well as length of residence also had an impact, but one that differed across age groups. Immigration-related variables appeared less consequential for loneliness in the oldest-old (aged 80+) than in younger elderly age groups. These findings attest to the significance of immigrant status for an understanding of loneliness in later life but suggest a need to acknowledge the diversity of immigrant experiences associated with lifecourse and other factors.
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This paper examines the relationships between self-reported loneliness and living arrangements. A structured questionnaire with some open-ended questions was administered face-to-face in English, Hindi or Punjabi to a sample of 161 elderly South Asian immigrants 60 or more years of age living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 2003. The majority of respondents said that they never felt lonely. More than one in three (37.3%) respondents indicated that they felt lonely occasionally, frequently or all of the time. Those living alone were significantly more likely to report feeling lonely at least occasionally than were those living with others, especially those living with their spouse in an extended family. The fact that South Asian immigrant seniors typically lived with others, often in an extended family with or without their spouse, and rarely lived alone protected them to some extent from loneliness. However, our findings showed that among those living with others, it was the amount of waking time spent alone at home and the quality of family relationships rather than living arrangement per se that significantly predicted self-reported loneliness. Nevertheless, living in a larger household was associated with spending less time alone. We discuss plausible influences of culture on expectations regarding family and social relationships and on the meaning of being alone, as well as practical implications for addressing loneliness in a multi-cultural society.
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This paper focuses on the so-called ‘zero generation’: the parents of first-generation migrants who are initially left behind in the migrant country of origin and who may subsequently follow their children in migration or engage in transnational back-and-forth mobility. We challenge the prevailing optic on the left-behind older generation that sees them as dependent and in need of care, and stress instead their active participation both in migration and in the administration of care and support to their children and grandchildren. Drawing on interviews with mainly zero-generation Albanians, and also some first-generation migrants, in various geographical contexts – Albania, Italy, Greece, and the UK – we trace their evolving patterns of mobility, intergenerational care, well-being, and loneliness both in Albania and abroad. In telling the often-overlooked story of the zero generation, we highlight both their vulnerability and agency in different circumstances and at different times, shaped by family composition and the ageing process. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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The concept of intersectionality is on its way to becoming a new paradigm in gender studies. In its current version, it denominates reciprocities between gender, race and class. However, it also allows for the integration of other socially defined categories, such as sexuality, nationality or age. On the other hand, it is widely left unclear as to which level these reciprocal effects apply: the level of social structures, the level of constructions of identity or the level of symbolic representations. This article advocates an intersectional multi-level analysis which takes into account reciprocal effects between the various levels. This approach includes an analytical grasp of and methodical reflection on these reciprocal effects as well as making them empirically accessible.
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This paper raises questions about ways in which the "imagined community" is discursively patrolled through accents. Drawing on preliminary research with African immigrant women, we argue that "Canadian English" constitutes a border allowing only partial and provisional crossing for those with an "African English" accent. The accent border is material and figurative, affecting access to material benefits such as jobs or housing, as well as shaping perceptions of who belongs in Canada. Thus, accents form a site through which racialized power relations are negotiated and "Others" are reproduced materially and figuratively in Canada.
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Much can be learned about (old) age-identity and age-related oppression by noting their similarities to, respectively, impairment and ableism. Drawing upon the work of Shelley Tremain, I show that old age, like impairment, is not a biological given but is socially constructed, both conceptually and materially. I also describe the striking similarities and connections between ableism and ageism as systems of oppression. That disability and aging both rest upon a biological given is a fiction that functions to excuse and perpetuate the very social mechanisms that perpetuate ableist and ageist oppression.
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This article outlines the methodological process of a transdisciplinary team of indigenous and nonindigenous individuals, who came together in early 2009 to develop a digital narrative method to engage a remote community in northern Labrador in a research project examining the linkages between climate change and physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being. Desiring to find a method that was locally appropriate and resonant with the narrative wisdom of the community, yet cognizant of the limitations of interview-based narrative research, our team sought to discover an indigenous method that united the digital media with storytelling. Using a case study that illustrates the usage of digital storytelling within an indigenous community, this article will share how digital storytelling can stand as a community-driven methodological strategy that addresses, and moves beyond, the limitations of narrative research and the issues of colonization of research and the Western analytic project. In so doing, this emerging method can preserve and promote indigenous oral wisdom, while engaging community members, developing capacities, and celebrating myriad stories, lived experiences, and lifeworlds.