Built and social environmental factors influencing healthy behaviours in older Chinese immigrants to Australia: a qualitative study

Abstract

BackgroundNeighbourhood environments influence older adults’ health and health-enhancing behaviours, such as physical activity, eating a healthy diet and socialising. However, little is known about the effects of the neighbourhood environment on the health of older immigrants, the number of which is rapidly increasing in developed countries. Using Nominal Group Technique (NGT) sessions, this study of older Chinese immigrants to urban Melbourne, Australia, examined built and social environmental facilitators of and barriers to regular engagement in physical activity, eating a healthy diet and regular contact with other people.MethodsParticipants were recruited from four types of neighbourhoods stratified by walkability and proportion of Chinese dwellers. Twelve NGTs, four specific to each of physical activity, healthy diet and social contacts were conducted in Mandarin or Cantonese (91 participants). NGT responses from groups addressing the same questions were aggregated, similar items were combined, and scores combined across groups. Inductive thematic analysis was used to categorise answers into higher-order themes of factors associated with each behaviour.ResultsFor physical activity, 29 facilitators and 28 barriers were generated with the highest ranked facilitator and barrier being “proximity to destinations” and “poor/inadequate public transport”, respectively. For healthy diet, 25 facilitators and 25 barriers were generated, the highest ranked facilitator and barrier were “high food safety standards/regulations” and “lack of family/household members’ social support for a healthy diet”. The social contacts NGTs generated 23 facilitators and 22 barriers, with the highest ranked facilitator and barrier being “proximity to destinations and activities” and “poor public transport”, respectively.DiscussionIndependent living arrangements and the accessibility of destinations of daily living (e.g., bilingual health services, libraries, places of worship and grocery stores / supermarkets), recreational facilities, affordable public transport, and community centres and activities for Chinese people are key elements for promoting regular engagement in physical activity, healthy eating and socialising in older Chinese immigrants. Governments should plan for the provision of this basic infrastructure of community facilities for older immigrants.

Urban environments and objectively-assessed physical activity and sedentary time in older Belgian and Chinese community dwellers: potential pathways of influence and the moderating role of physical function

“…Public transport and recreational facilities appear to have a negative impact on MVPA by reducing the likelihood of car ownership, but only in subgroups of older adults. The fact that car ownership may be necessary to maintain a certain level of MVPA in some suggests that the affordability, frequency, comfort and intelligibility of the current public transport systems may be inadequate for an ageing population, as was recently noted in a qualitative study of Chinese older adults in Melbourne [79]. Yet, the present study also suggests that public transport may help older adults to reduce ST irrespective of geographical location and physical function level.…”

Eating Alone or Together among Community-Living Older People—A Scoping Review

“… QUALITATIVE Cerin, E., et al, 2019. Australia [ 104 ] Focus group interviews n = 91, 60–85 years, mean age 71.1 To identify built and social environmental facilitators of and barriers to regular engagement in physical activity, eating a healthy diet and regular contact with other people among older Chinese immigrants to urban Australia. For physical activity the highest ranked facilitator and barrier was “proximity to destinations” and “poor/inadequate public transport”, respectively.…”

“…As a qualitative example, a focus group interview study explored built and social environmental facilitators of, and barriers to, engagement in eating a healthy diet, physical activity, and regular contact with other people, among older Chinese immigrants in Australia [ 104 ]. One part of their findings was that lack of social support from family members was a barrier to a healthy diet, further the participants mention eating in restaurants or community centers but did not describe the eating company or lack thereof.…”

How urban densification shapes walking behaviours in older community dwellers: a cross-sectional analysis of potential pathways of influence

“…Having access to more transit routes in the neighbourhood makes it easier to access remote, larger parks and other natural open spaces (e.g., beaches) where older residents can enjoy longer walks. Although it could be argued that this line of reasoning is also applicable to older adults with a car in the household, most older adults in China (including Hong Kong) do not own a car [63,64] but rely on their usually timepoor adult children to drive them to/from places [65,66]. This could explain why having a car in the household was associated with shorter recreational walks outside the neighbourhood.…”