Care Support Experiences of Older Ethiopian Refugees Resettled in Australia

ABSTRACT

Drawing on qualitative research, the authors analysed the care support experiences of older Ethiopian refugees resettled in Australia. In-depth interviews conducted with 12 Ethiopians revealed that older Ethiopians experienced language and cultural barriers in accessing formal care services, and that they often did not view these services as entitlements they were due as citizens. Findings demonstrated a significant familial orientation to expectations around, and provision of, care support to older Ethiopians, which may be under-recognised in the Australian social work context. The authors argue that given this familial orientation and the difficulty in accessing formal care services, the reconfiguration of care relationships post-resettlement has resulted in increased reliance on adult daughters’ attenuated capacity to meet the care needs of older parents, which raises serious concerns about the long-term viability and gender equity of such arrangements.

IMPLICATIONS

• Older Ethiopian refugees resettled in Australia may experience “care poverty” due to unmet needs for aged care services. Social work practice to redress this should recognise gendered cultural and linguistic barriers to services, and provide effective, culturally competent translation services.

• The familial orientation of elder care among Ethiopians may potentially over-burden adult daughters who are care-givers; care support policies should, therefore, aim to provide services to prevent gendered care inequalities.

KEYWORDS:

• Aged Care
• Ethiopian
• Resettled Refugee
• Australia
• Gender Equity
• Care Inequality

Acknowledgements

The first author gratefully acknowledges the invaluable support of the Horn of Africa Communities Network and the Australian Oromo Community Association in Melbourne in recruiting research participants for the study; as well as the excellent assistance in interpretation of interviews in Tigrinya, Amharic and Oromiffa provided by Godefa Gher and Dr Oush Nure.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 For further information, see the Australian Government’s portal on aged care services My Aged Care (https://www.health.gov.au/initiativesand-programs/my-aged-care/about-my-aged-care).

2 Pseudonyms have been used throughout this article to ensure anonymity of participants.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award [grant number DE150100443].