Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-5g6vh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T13:17:15.676Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2020

Sharon Koehn Open the ORCID record for Sharon Koehn [Opens in a new window] ,
Ilyan Ferrer  and
Shari Brotman
Sharon Koehn*
Affiliation:
Gerontology Department, Simon Fraser University-Vancouver, Vancouver, Canada
Ilyan Ferrer
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
Shari Brotman
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Email: skoehn@sfu.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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 participants’ 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.

Keywords

immigrant older adultsCanadasocial isolationlonelinesssocial connectionintersectional lifecourselife-story narrative
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 42 , Issue 5 , May 2022 , pp. 1117 - 1137
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ministry of Social Development (2001) New Zealand Positive Ageing Strategy. Available at https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/planning-strategy/positive-ageing/.Google Scholar
Bauer, GR (2014) Incorporating intersectionality theory into population health research methodology: challenges and the potential to advance health equity. Social Science & Medicine 110, 10–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bazeley, P and Jackson, K (2013) Qualitative Data Analysis with NVivo, 2nd Edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Boughtwood, D, Shanley, C, Adams, J, Santalucia, Y, Kyriazopoulos, H, Rowland, J and Pond, D (2013) The role of the bilingual/bicultural worker in dementia education, support and care. Dementia 12, 7–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brotman, S, Koehn, S and Ferrer, I (2017) Lived Experiences of Aging Immigrants. Centre for Research and Expertise in Social Gerontology (CREGES) Available online at https://www.mcgill.ca/soc-gerontology/research/lived-experiences-aging-immigrants [Accessed 11 December 2018].Google Scholar
Brotman, S, Ferrer, I and Koehn, S (2020) Situating the life story narratives of aging immigrants within a structural context: the intersectional life course perspective as research praxis. Qualitative Research 20, 465–484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, TH and Warner, DF (2008) Divergent pathways? Racial/ethnic differences in older women's labor force withdrawal. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 63B, S122–S134.Google Scholar
Browne, CV and Braun, KL (2008) Globalization, women's migration, and the long-term-care workforce. The Gerontologist 48, 16–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campaign to End Loneliness (2011) Safeguarding the Convoy: A Call to Action from the Campaign to End Loneliness. Oxford: Age UK Oxfordshire.Google Scholar
Canadian Centre for Elder Law (2013) Your Words Are Worth Something: Identifying Barriers to the Well Being of Older Women. Vancouver, Canada: Canadian Centre for Elder Law.Google Scholar
Carrière, Y, Martel, L, Légaré, J and Picard, J-F (2016) The Contribution of Immigration to the Size and Ethnocultural Diversity of Future Cohorts of Seniors (Insights on Canadian Society). Ottawa: Statistics Canada. Available at https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2016001/article/14345-eng.htm.Google Scholar
Carstairs, S and Keon, J (2009) Special Senate Committee on Aging. Final Report: Canada's Aging Population: Seizing the Opportunity. Ottawa: The Senate.Google Scholar
Cela, E and Fokkema, T (2017) Being lonely later in life: a qualitative study among Albanians and Moroccans in Italy. Ageing & Society 37, 1197–1226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choi, E, Tang, F and Copeland, VC (2017) Racial/ethnic inequality among older workers: focusing on Whites, Blacks, and Latinos within the cumulative advantage/disadvantage framework. Journal of Social Service Research 43, 18–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clair VA, Wright-St and Nayar, S (2020) Resettling amidst a mood of loneliness: later-life Chinese, Indian and Korean immigrants in New Zealand. Ageing & Society 40, 2393–2409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Couton, P (2014) Ethnocultural Community Organizations and Immigrant Integration in Canada. Ottawa: Institute for Research on Public Policy.Google Scholar
Creese, G and Kambere, EN (2003) ‘What colour is your English?’ Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie 40, 565–573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunsolo Willox, A, Harper, SL and Edge, VL (2013) Storytelling in a digital age: digital storytelling as an emerging narrative method for preserving and promoting indigenous oral wisdom. Qualitative Research 13, 127–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curtis, J and Lightman, N (2017) Golden years or retirement fears? Private pension inequality among Canada's immigrants. Canadian Journal on Aging/La Revue canadienne du vieillissement 36, 178–195.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Daatland, SO and Biggs, S (2004) Ageing and Diversity: Multiple Pathways and Cultural Migrations. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.Google Scholar
De Jong Gierveld, J, Van der Pas, S and Keating, N (2015) Loneliness of older immigrant groups in Canada: effects of ethnic-cultural background. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology 30, 251–268.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Jong Gierveld, J, van Tilburg, TG and Dykstra, PA (2018) New ways of theorizing and conducting research in the field of loneliness and social isolation. In Vangelisti, AL and Perlman, D (eds), The Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 391–404.Google Scholar
Diaz, LG, Savundranayagam, MY, Kloseck, M and Fitzsimmons, D (2019) The role of cultural and family values on social connectedness and loneliness among ethnic minority elders. Clinical Gerontologist 42, 114–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixon-Woods, M, Cavers, D, Agarwal, MS, Annandale, E, Arthur, T, Harvey, J, Hsu, R, Katbamna, S, Olsen, R, Smith, L, Riley, R and Sutton, AJ (2006) Conducting a critical interpretive synthesis of the literature on access to healthcare by vulnerable groups. BMC Medical Research Methodology 6, 35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dolberg, P, Sigurðardóttir, SH and Trummer, U (2018) Ageism and older immigrants. In L. Ayalon and C. Tesch-Römer (eds), Contemporary Perspectives on Ageism (International Perspectives on Aging). Cham, Switzerland: Springer, pp. 177–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dong, X and Chen, R (2017) Gender differences in the experience of loneliness in U.S. Chinese older adults. Journal of Women & Aging 29, 115–125.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dykstra, PA, van Tilburg, TG and de Jong Gierveld, J (2005) Changes in older adult loneliness: results from a seven-year longitudinal study. Research on Aging 27, 725–747.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eastmond, M (2007) Stories as lived experience: narratives in forced migration research. Journal of Refugee Studies 20, 248–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferrer, I (2015) Examining the disjunctures between policy and care in Canada's Parent and Grandparent Supervisa. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care 11, 253–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferrer, I, Brotman, S and Grenier, A (2017 a) The experiences of reciprocity among Filipino older adults in Canada: intergenerational, transnational, and community considerations. Journal of Gerontological Social Work 60, 313–327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferrer, I, Grenier, A, Brotman, S and Koehn, S (2017 b) Understanding the experiences of racialized older people through an intersectional life course perspective. Journal of Aging Studies 41, 10–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gardiner, C, Geldenhuys, G and Gott, M (2018) Interventions to reduce social isolation and loneliness among older people: an integrative review. Health & Social Care in the Community 26, 147–157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grant, H and Townsend, J (2010) The incidence of poverty among Canada's elderly immigrants. In Durst, D and MacLean, M (eds), Diversity and Aging Among Immigrant Seniors in Canada: Changing Faces and Greying Temples. Calgary, Canada: Detselig Enterprises, pp. 125–147.Google Scholar
Grenier, A (2012) Transitions and the Lifecourse: Challenging the Constructions of ‘Growing Old’. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gubernskaya, Z and Treas, J (2020) Pathways to linguistic isolation among older U.S. immigrants: assessing the role of living arrangements and English proficiency. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 75B, 351–356.Google Scholar
Han, H, Jung, YM and Xiong, X (2019) Participation and engagement: dynamics of social life. In Han, H, Jung, YM and Xiong, X (eds), The Ageing of Australian Ethnic Minorities. Singapore: Springer, pp. 23–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hiebert, D (2003) Canada: a false consensus? In Kloosterman, R and Rath, J (eds), Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Venturing Abroad in the Age of Globalization. Oxford: Berg, pp. 39–60.Google Scholar
Huberman, M and Miles, MB (2002) The Qualitative Researcher's Companion. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hwang, J, Wang, L, Siever, J, Medico, TD and Jones, CA (2019) Loneliness and social isolation among older adults in a community exercise program: a qualitative study. Aging & Mental Health 23, 736–742.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ip, D, Lui, CW and Chui, WH (2007) Veiled entrapment: a study of social isolation of older Chinese migrants in Brisbane, Queensland. Ageing & Society 27, 719–738.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Islam, F, Khanlou, N, Tamim, H and Saad-tengmark, K (2015) Exploring women's mental health at the intersections of aging, racialization, and low socioeconomic status. In Khanlou, N and Pilkington, FB (eds), Women's Mental Health: Resistance and Resilience in Community and Society (Advances in Mental Health and Addiction). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, pp. 277–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, R, Cela, E, Fokkema, T and Vullnetari, J (2014) The migration and well-being of the zero generation: transgenerational care, grandparenting, and loneliness amongst Albanian older people. Population, Space and Place 20, 728–738.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klokgieters, SS, van Tilburg, TG, Deeg, DJH and Huisman, M (2019) Do religious activities among young–old immigrants act as a buffer against the effect of a lack of resources on well-being? Aging & Mental Health 23, 625–632.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kobayashi, KM and Prus, SG (2011) Adopting an intersectionality perspective to the study of the ‘healthy immigrant effect’. In Hankivsky, O (ed.), Health Inequities in Canada: Intersectional Frameworks and Practices. Vancouver, Canada: UBC Press, pp. 180–197.Google Scholar
Koehn, S, Spencer, C and Hwang, E (2010) Promises, promises: cultural and legal dimensions of sponsorship for immigrant seniors. In Durst, D and MacLean, M (eds), Diversity and Aging Among Immigrant Seniors in Canada: Changing Faces and Greying Temples. Calgary, Canada: Detselig Enterprises, pp. 79–102.Google Scholar
Koehn, S, Neysmith, S, Kobayashi, K and Khamisa, H (2013) Revealing the shape of knowledge using an intersectionality lens: report on a scoping review on the health and health care access and utilization of ethnocultural minority older adults. Ageing & Society 33, 437–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koehn, S, Jarvis, P, Sandhra, S, Bains, S and Addison, M (2014) Promoting mental health of immigrant seniors in community. Ethnicity and Inequalities in Health and Social Care 7, 146–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koehn, S, Habib, S and Bukhari, S (2016) S4AC case study: enhancing underserved seniors’ access to health promotion programs. Canadian Journal on Aging/La Revue canadienne du vieillissement 35, 89–102.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krause, N (2016) Assessing the relationships among religiousness, loneliness, and health. Archive for the Psychology of Religion 38, 278–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, J, Xu, L and Chi, I (2018) Challenges and resilience related to aging in the United States among older Chinese immigrants. Aging & Mental Health 22, 1548–1555.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lim, A, Lo, L, Siemiatycki, M and Doucet, M (2005) Newcomer services in the Greater Toronto Area: an exploration of the range and funding sources of settlement services. Geography Publications and Research, Paper 41. Available at https://digital.library.ryerson.ca/islandora/object/RULA%3A227/datastream/OBJ/download/Newcomer_Services_in_the_Greater_Toronto_Area__an_Exploration_of_the_Range_and_Funding_Sources_of_Settlement_Services.pdf.Google Scholar
Matsuoka, A, Guruge, S, Koehn, S, Beaulieu, M, Ploeg, J with Lithwick M, Mullings D, Roger, K, Spencer, C, Tyyska, V, Walsh, C, Gomes, F and Brisebois, S (2013) Prevention of abuse of older women in the post-migration context in Canada. Canadian Review of Social Policy 68/69, 107–120.Google Scholar
McCall, L (2005) The complexity of intersectionality. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 30, 1771–1800.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaren, AT (2006) Immigration and parental sponsorship in Canada: implications for elderly women. Canadian Issues (Metropolis) Spring, 34–37.Google Scholar
Morgan, T, Wiles, J, Moeke-Maxwell, T, Black, S, Park, H-J, Dewes, O, Williams, LA and Gott, M (in press) ‘People haven't got that close connection’: meanings of loneliness and social isolation to culturally diverse older people. Aging & Mental Health. Available online. doi.10.1080/13607863.2019.1633619.Google Scholar
National Senior's Council (2017) Who's at Risk and What Can Be Done About It? A Review of the Literature on the Social Isolation of Different Groups of Seniors (No. 978-1-100-25344–2). Ottawa: Government of Canada. Available at https://www.canada.ca/en/national-seniors-council/programs/publications-reports/2017/review-social-isolation-seniors.html.Google Scholar
Ng, CF and Northcott, HC (2015) Living arrangements and loneliness of South Asian immigrant seniors in Edmonton, Canada. Ageing & Society 35, 552–575.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Overall, C (2006) Old age and ageism, impairment and ableism: exploring the conceptual and material connections. National Women's Studies Association Journal 18, 126–137.Google Scholar
Pinquart, M and Sorensen, S (2001) Influences on loneliness in older adults: a meta-analysis. Basic and Applied Social Psychology 23, 245–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Refugees and Citizenship Canada Immigration (2019) Understand PR Status. Available at https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/new-immigrants/pr-card/understand-pr-status.html.Google Scholar
Rote, S and Markides, K (2014) Aging, social relationships, and health among older immigrants. Generations 38, 51–57.Google Scholar
Schoenmakers, EC, van Tilburg, TG and Fokkema, T (2012) Coping with loneliness: what do older adults suggest? Aging & Mental Health 16, 353–360.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shaw, J (2017) Thinking with stories: a renewed call for narrative inquiry as a social work epistemology and methodology. Canadian Social Work Review/Revue canadienne de service social 34, 207–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, KJ and Victor, C (2019) Typologies of loneliness, living alone and social isolation, and their associations with physical and mental health. Ageing & Society 39, 1709–1730.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, M, Shizha, E, Makwarimba, E, Spitzer, D, Khalema, EN and Nsaliwa, CD (2011) Challenges and barriers to services for immigrant seniors in Canada: ‘You are among others but you feel alone.’ International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care 7, 16–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Szabó, Á, Klokgieters, SS, Kok, AAL, van Tilburg, TG and Huisman, M (2020) Psychological resilience in the context of disability: a study with Turkish and Moroccan young-old immigrants living in the Netherlands. The Gerontologist 60, 259–269.Google ScholarPubMed
The Federal/Provincial/Territorial Working Group on Social Isolation and Social Innovation (2017) Social Isolation of Seniors, Vol. 1, Understanding the Issue and Finding Solutions. Departmental Performance Report. Ottawa. Available at https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/corporate/partners/seniors-forum/social-isolation-toolkit-vol1.html.Google Scholar
The Federal/Provincial/Territorial Working Group on Social Isolation and Social Innovation (2018) Social Isolation of Seniors: A Focus on New Immigrant and Refugee Seniors in Canada. Program Descriptions. Ottawa. Available at http://www12.esdc.gc.ca/sgpe-pmps/servlet/sgpp-pmps-pub?lang=eng&curjsp=p.5bd.2t.1.3ls@-eng.jsp&curactn=dwnld&pid=57459&did=5399.Google Scholar
Torres, S (2006) Different ways of understanding the construct of successful aging: Iranian immigrants speak about what aging well means to them. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology 21, 1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torres, S (2019) Ethnicity and Old Age: Expanding Our Imagination. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Trask, BS (2018) Integrating life course, globalization and the study of racial and ethnic families. Journal of Family Theory & Review 10, 451–466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, CC and Redwood-Jones, YA (2001) Photovoice ethics: perspectives from Flint Photovoice. Health Education & Behavior 28, 560–572.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warner, DF and Brown, TH (2011) Understanding how race/ethnicity and gender define age-trajectories of disability: an intersectionality approach. Social Science & Medicine 72, 1236–1248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weldrick, R and Grenier, A (2018) Social isolation in later life: extending the conversation. Canadian Journal on Aging/La Revue canadienne du vieillissement 37, 76–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitfield, KE and Baker, TA (2014) Handbook of Minority Aging. New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Winker, G and Degele, N (2011) Intersectionality as multi-level analysis: dealing with social inequality. European Journal of Women's Studies 18, 51–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, Z and Penning, M (2015) Immigration and loneliness in later life. Ageing & Society 35, 64–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, K and Victor, C (2011) Age and loneliness in 25 European nations. Ageing & Society 31, 1368–1388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar