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Elderly South Asians in Britain: A survey of relevant literature and themes for future research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Nicholas Mays
Nicholas Mays
Affiliation:
Research Officer, Research Unit, The Sports Council, 16 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0QP; formerly Department of Community Health, University of Leicester, School of Medicine.
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Abstract

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The number of elderly Commonwealth South Asian immigrants in Britain originating from the Indian sub-continent will grow substantially in the next few years, yet there has been little consideration of this group in terms of academic social research. Indeed, welfare agencies are only beginning to become aware of the possible needs of this group. A survey of the scanty British literature on elderly ethnic minorities reveals the paucity of existing knowledge. However, studies from other countries, notably Japan and the U.S.A., suggest a number of illuminating areas for research. The presence of a culturally distinct Asian ethnic minority group experiencing ageing in British conditions appears to afford a good opportunity to throw further light on an important aspect of gerontological theory: namely the respective weight to be attached to cultural factors, social structure and the degree of societal modernisation in shaping the ageing process of individuals and groups.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , March 1983 , pp. 71 - 97
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

References

NOTES

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