Exploring Aging-in-Place Among Chinese and Korean Seniors in British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

British Columbia, Canada, has emerged as a popular settlement area for Chinese and Korean immigrants. Responding to the demographic trend, the goal of this study was to examine current characteristics of housing and neighborhoods and utilization of local amenities of Chinese and Korean seniors in BC in exploring the possibility of aging-in-place in their home and community. The data were collected using face-to-face interviews for 99 participants (50 for Chinese and 49 for Koreans). To compare group differences between Chinese and Koreans, chi-square and t tests were conducted. Results indicated that Chinese and Korean seniors stayed at current housing about 10 years and did not plan to move out in the next 3 years. However, Chinese seniors were more likely to live with their adult children and church was an important resource for Korean seniors. Local amenities created more resources and social support for both Chinese and Korean seniors, but Chinese seniors tended to actually use various local amenities more than Korean seniors. To Korean seniors, ethnic Korean church was an important source of community links. The role of housing should be discussed from a bigger context to enable the participants to remain in their familiar environment.

Employment adjustment and mental health of employed family caregivers in Canada

“…A 2017 survey of Canadians aged 45 years and older demonstrated that about 85% of the respondents planned to remain at home (Homestars, 2017). Staying at home in later life, or aging in place, is encouraged by policymakers and health care providers, and supported by aging people themselves (Hwang, 2008;World Health Organization, 2007). Aging in place supports older adults' independence, sense of security, and maintenance of connections to family, friends, and other networks or resources in the community (Aneshensel, Pearlin, Mullan, Zarit, & Whitlatch, 1995;Arksey & Glendinning, 2007;Cantor, 1991;Wiles, Leibing, Guberman, Reeve, & Allen, 2011).…”

Characterizing Stakeholders of Aging-in-Place through Social Network Analysis: A Study of Nanjing, China

“…Nanjing is one of sixteen "Mega cities", the operational measures of Nanjing's AIP system are more meaningful for cities in the same category (e.g., Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Tianjin) than for cities in other categories. Although the economies and populations are different, there are still commonalities in terms of government structure and social culture (e.g., Confucian principle) [9,10]. Hence, the high-level policy directions in Figure 5 are instructive for many other cities in Mainland China, including integrating government departments, fostering third-party organizations, reducing redundant platforms to avoid information fragmentation, and cultivating volunteer organizations.…”

“…The Chinese government also envisages that AIP should consist of two essential elements, i.e., living at home and being able to acquire the necessary services from the community conveniently [5,8,9]. AIP systems in China are affected by two main factors: (i) built facilities (e.g., beds in aging services institution) for the elderly care can only accommodate around 3% of the aged population, which means around 97% of older people would have to end up staying in their current residences after retirement [8]; and (ii) Chinese people practice the Confucian principle of filial piety where descendants would prefer to live with their parents and take care of them when they get old [9,10]. The one-child policy introduced in China in the late 70s, however, has resulted in the emergence of many 4-2-1 families (i.e., the paternal and maternal grandparents, two parents, and one child).…”

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“…A review of the literature show a large number of studies have explored various aging issues concerning elderly Chinese immigrants in Canada, such as the underutilization of services by minority elderly people due to external barriers (e.g., language difficulties, culturally generated distrust of service providers) and internal characteristics (e.g., individual negative attitudes, cultural beliefs toward services, and preferred helping resources) (Chappell & Lai, 1998;Moon, Lubben, & Villa, 1998), caregiving (Lai, Luk, & Andruske, 2007), general wellbeing (Chow, 2010(Chow, , 2007Lai, Tsang, Chappell, Lai, & Chan, 2003), as well as living and housing arrangements (Gee, 2000;Hwang, 2008). The purpose of this paper is to explore Chinese-Canadians' perceptions of eldercare needs in a Canadian prairie city.…”