Finding a Sense of Home across the Pacific in Old Age— Chinese American Senior’s Report of Life Satisfaction in a Foreign Land
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- 作者：Heying Jenny Zhan ; Qi Wang ; Zoe Fawcett…
- 关键词：Sense of home ; Family ; Environment ; Aging ; Immigration ; Life satisfaction
- 刊名：Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology
- 出版年：2017
- 出版时间：March 2017
- 年：2017
- 卷：32
- 期：1
- 页码：31-55
- 全文大小：
- 刊物类别：Humanities, Social Sciences and Law
- 刊物主题：Aging; Anthropology; Philosophy of Medicine; Geriatrics/Gerontology; Theory of Medicine/Bioethics;
- 出版者：Springer US
- ISSN：1573-0719
- 卷排序：32
文摘
Finding a sense of home for international migrants is challenging. It is even more so for older adults who migrate to a foreign country later in life to follow their adult children. This study examines Chinese immigrant elders’ report of their sense of home and life-satisfaction. Based on 21 intensive interviews and107 surveys with elderly immigrants of Chinese descent, this research finds that a comfortable living condition in a natural and built environment contribute to Chinese elders’ narrative of a sense of home. The lack of English language, however, makes immigrant Chinese elders feel very unsettled. Being together with children and having good social benefits are major pull factors that contribute to immigrant elders’ decision to settle down in a foreign country. Those who report a stronger sense of home tend to report a higher level of life satisfaction. In conclusion, the authors argue that immigrant elders are defining their sense of home with a greater sense of independence from their adult children. Favorable social policies toward older adults, such as Medicare, Medicaid, low income housing, and social services, are important factors that make older immigrants feel a sense of home in a foreign land, although the inability to communicate is a barrier to a complete sense of home for transnational migrants in old age.