Growing old in Canada: physical and psychological well-being among elderly Chinese immigrants

Abstract

Objective. Immigrants are a vital component of the current and future ethnic aging population in Canada. This study was undertaken to explore the health status of elderly Chinese immigrants in a western Canadian city and to identify the major determinants of their physical and psychological well-being.

Method. Using a 50% random sample of elderly Chinese residing in three residential complexes occupied exclusively by individuals of ethnic Chinese origin located in downtown Calgary, a total of 147 Chinese seniors were interviewed in their homes by trained, bilingual interviewers using a structured questionnaire that covered a wide range of topics including health status, social network, living arrangements, use of health-related services, and socio-demographic information.

Data analysis. Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. A principal component factor analysis using varimax rotation was performed to explore the underlying factorial structure of the seven items measuring well-being. The internal consistency of all scales used was assessed by Cronbach's alpha reliability test. Two multiple ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression models were constructed to identify the major determinants of respondents' physical and psychological well-being.

Results. The findings revealed that a majority of the participants described their physical health as good or very good. Results of multiple OLS regression analysis demonstrated that education, country of origin, use of medications, physical mobility, and perceived financial needs were significantly associated with physical well-being, whereas sex, marital status, length of residence, education, and physical mobility were significantly related to psychological well-being.

Conclusion. Healthcare professionals, service providers, and policy-makers need to understand the significant impact of the various socio-demographic and background variables that contribute to the well-being of community-dwelling Chinese elderly immigrants. The provision of culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate healthcare, social, and medical services is needed for the growing older Chinese population. Future studies should compare the health status of foreign-born Chinese seniors with those who were native-born, as well those co-residing with adult children.

Keywords:

• elderly immigrants
• Chinese-Canadians
• physical and psychological well-being

Acknowledgements

This study was conducted under the auspices of the Chinese Christian Wing Kei Nursing Home Association in Calgary, Alberta. Appreciation is extended to Kathleen Ng, Kelvin Wong, and Jules Dorval for their research assistance, and to Thomson Yu, Angel Chow, Yau-tsang Chan, Stephen Tam, Simon Kwan, She-weng Chow, and Chap Wong for their tenacious support. Gratitude is expressed to Paul Gingrich and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

Notes

1. The term ‘visible minority’ refers to whether or not a person, under criteria established by the Canadian Government's Employment Equity Act, is non-Caucasian in race or non-White in color. Under the Act, an Aboriginal person is not considered to be a visible minority. The visible minority population in Canada includes the following groups: Blacks, South Asians, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Southeast Asians, Filipinos, Arabs and West Asians, Latin Americans, and Pacific Islanders.

2. The concept of ‘institutional completeness,’ formulated by Breton (1964), refers to the extent to which an ethnic group in a particular locale possess organizations by or for members of that ethnoculture.

3. The original study involves the administration of two surveys that explored (1) health care needs among both institutionalized and non-institutionalized elderly Chinese immigrants in Calgary and (2) Chinese-Canadians' perceptions of the health care needs among Chinese seniors in Calgary (see Chow 2000).

4. A principal component factor analysis was performed in an attempt to further explore the underlying factorial structure of the well-being scale. Two independent factors were delineated using varimax rotation, namely physical well-being (eigen value = 2.564) and psychological well-being (eigen value = 1.709). These two factors accounted for 36.6% and 24.4% of the variance, respectively. The factor loadings ranged from 0.595 to 0.824. Four items were loaded on the first factor: (1) I am in good shape physically (0.824); (2) I don't have many physical complaints (0.772); (3) I always have very good sleep (0.673); and (4) I don't get tired very easily (0.595). Three items were loaded on the second factor: (1) I feel lonely most of the time (0.686); (2) I am often bored (0.667); and (3) I feel hopeless about the future (0.655). The physical and psychological well-being scales were found to be internally consistent, with a Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of 0.769 and 0.666, respectively.

5. A total of 11 socio-demographic and background variables were included in the OLS regression model. Age (M=78.14, SD = 7.22), medication (M=1.70, SD = 1.88), financial needs (M=1.94, SD = 0.74) were continuous variables. Sex (1 = male, 0 = female), marital status (1 = married, 0 = other), religion (1 = religious affiliation, 0 = no religious affiliation), length of residence (1 = more than 10 years, 0 = other), education (1 = secondary school or above, 0 = other), country of origin (1 = Mainland China, 2 = Hong Kong, and 3 = other), social network (1 = with contacts in Calgary, 0 = other), and physical mobility (1 = no aids required, 0 = other) were categorical variables.