The elderly population is growing rapidly currently because of the aging “baby boomers.” This is the same for the elderly immigrant population. Both of these population face problems in getting their needs met, especially elderly immigrants whose needs are not met as readily due to “unaddressed barriers” (Gentry, 2010).
Elderly immigrants are defined as people aged 65 or older and who was not born in Canada or the United States. They are also sometimes referred to as, aged immigrants. Elderly immigrants represent a large percentage of the population and are of many diverse cultures. They most of the time have immigrated to Canada or the United States in earlier years and have grown old in their new country, but there are some elderly people that do immigrate once they have turned 65.
Similar to any immigrant, elderly people face the challenges of social interaction, language and cultural barriers (Trang, 2008). As well there are the challenges of housing, transportation and medical resources, which are more present in elderly immigrants. Medical resources and healthcare are one of the most important needs of an elderly person regardless of whether they are Canadian born elderly or an elderly immigrant. With that being said though, elderly immigrants face far more challenges with healthcare and medical resources than Canadian born immigrants do. Many immigrants are uninsured or underinsured and that poses many problems when it comes to healthcare.
Another challenge as mentioned above is social interaction and transportation. Many elderly immigrants choose to live with their children or other family members in order to avoid unfamiliar surrounding that may arise if live on their own in say an apartment building or senior’s home (Wilmoth, 2004).
Because these immigrants are at a later stage in their lives, these challenges are harder to overcome. Contrastingly, a person who immigrate to Canada when they are in the 20’s or 30’s may face similar challenges at the beginning, but also have more opportunities, and need I say, “time” to overcome them by either, taking classes to learn English or getting a job that provides them with medical benefits. Although these options are not unavailable to elderly immigrants, it is common knowledge that most people aged 65 and older are probably not going to be getting high paying jobs with benefits or taking English classes when the immigrate and this is why it is especially hard for elderly immigrants coming to Canada or the United States.
- Michal B.
References:
Gentry, D. M. (2010). Challenges of Elderly Immigrants. Human Services Today. Retrieved November 14, 2011, from http://hst.coehs.uwosh.edu/Spring2010articles
Trang, A. (2008). What Older People Want: Lessons from Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese Immigrant Communities. Generations Home - Main. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://generations.metapress.com/content
Wilmoth, J. (2004). Social Integration of Older Immigrants in 21st Century America. IDEAS: Economics and Finance Research. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://ideas.repec.org/p/max/cprpbr/29.html
Good post, Michal! I just posted on this very same topic as well and I couldn't agree with you more! The government is doing their part in terms of providing resources for the elderly in general, but they also need to be more aware of elders who have just immigrated here.
ReplyDelete- Adrienne A.
I completely agree with this. I feel that there are many resources for younger immigrants but there does not seem to be hardly any for older persons. If the government is willing to allow these eldery people to reside in Canada I feel that they need to be eligible for the same benefits as other older persons.
ReplyDelete-Iresha