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Mobilizing for Action A Report to Help Create Culturally Responsive Pathways for Isolated Immigrant Seniors December, 2008 Mobilizing for Action was written by Luis Alberto D’Elia, Project Coordinator with the Edmonton Seniors Coordinating Council (ESCC), with the exception of the 2008 Edmonton Cultural Profiles section which was written by community writers listed below. Assistance was provided by ESCC Executive Director Sheila Hallett and Communications Coordinator Rich Gossen. Funding for this project was granted by the New Horizons for Seniors Program and the City of Edmonton Community Services, 2008. The project was guided by a team of community partners: Yvonne Chiu of the Multicultural Health Brokers Cooperative Maureen Gross and Jill Chesley of Catholic Social Services Nasreen Omar of the University of Alberta Hospital Lucenia Ortiz of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Judy Sillito of the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers Brenda Wong of Community Services, City of Edmonton 2008 Cultural Profile Writers: Irene Dormitorio, Judy Sachs, Zaw Moe, Mana Ali, Nasreen Omar, Mieun Kwak, Nhan Lu, Susana Runge, Firozeh Penhani, Sabah Tahir, Joseph Luri, Nora Abou-Absi, Serawit Dafla Cultural Profile Editors: Michael Tonderai Kariwo, Nasreen Omar and Rich Gossen Note: Much of the research on immigrant seniors has failed to recognize ethnicity or culture as relevant variables in understanding and addressing their needs. This review is based on the recognition that diversity is not only enriching but also it poses challenges, and these can be adequately addressed only if efforts are based on a thorough and respectful understanding of immigrant seniors’ cultural and ethnic identity. Attempts will be made to keep this information current on the ESCC website. Please visit www.seniorscouncil.net and view the issues tab on diversity. - Project Coordinator Luis Alberto D’Elia 2 | Page Table of Contents Introduction..................................................................................................7 Demographics (World, Canada, Alberta and Edmonton).................. 7 Marginalization of Immigrant Seniors ........................................................9 Immigrant seniors spoke out...................................................................... 10 What changes should service providers consider?............................... 10 Issues for Seniors ..........................................................................................12 City of Edmonton’s commitment to seniors............................................ 12 What puts a senior at risk? ......................................................................... 13 Why do immigrant seniors face added risks?......................................... 14 Provincial and Municipal Plans Impact Seniors........................................16 How Cultural Knowledge Can Help Service Providers.............................16 Age discrimination and the importance of culture............................... 17 Understanding immigrant categories...................................................... 18 Do service providers have a desire to be culturally competent? ..... 18 A checklist for service providers-gauge your cultural competence.. 20 Profiling a culture.........................................................................................22 Calgary published Cultural Cues ............................................................. 22 Edmonton cultural profiles first developed in 2004................................ 23 New categories added for Edmonton 2008 cultural profiles ............... 23 Edmonton 2008 Cultural Profiles ..............................................................26 3 | Page Cultural orientations-putting the cultural profiles into context ............. 26 Glossary of Cross-Cultural Terms ................................................................ 32 Profiles of Cultural Communities in Edmonton Afghan ........................................................................................................... 64 Arab................................................................................................................ 73 Chinese .......................................................................................................... 84 Eritrean ........................................................................................................... 94 Eastern European ......................................................................................... 108 Filipino............................................................................................................. 119 Iranian ............................................................................................................ 131 Karen (Burma)............................................................................................... 145 Korean............................................................................................................ 156 Latin American ............................................................................................. 177 Somali............................................................................................................. 203 South Asian.................................................................................................... 211 Sudanese....................................................................................................... 235 Vietnamese ................................................................................................... 248 Assumptions and Misconceptions ...............................................................256 Are seniors less happy then they were in their youth? ............................ 256 Do seniors feel good?................................................................................... 256 Do younger people from diverse communities receive better service? ...... 256 Going beyond helping immigrants to adapt to unfair conditions........ 257 Understanding the senior as part of the whole cultural community .... 258 4 | Page How to Improve Services to Immigrant Seniors..........................................259 Edmonton 2008 Roundtable Consultation-Challenges Identified ............261 Language barriers ...................................................................................... 261 Lack of functionality in the Canadian system........................................ 262 Family sponsorship/roles of seniors ........................................................... 263 Financial difficulties..................................................................................... 264 Personal difficulties ..................................................................................... 264 Recommendations Emerging from the Edmonton 2008 Roundtable.......265 Reaching out to isolated seniors .............................................................. 265 Participants describe how to make service more culturally responsive ..... 266 Participants describe what has worked for them.................................. 266 Immigrant seniors –their hopes and successes ...................................... 267 Roundtable participants’ other recommendations.............................. 268 Promising Practices .......................................................................................268 Rediscovering capacities for immigrant seniors .................................... 268 Culturally responsive health care ............................................................ 268 Personal one-to-one support .................................................................... 270 Community development in small groups.............................................. 270 Community organizing............................................................................... 270 Coalition building........................................................................................ 270 Political action............................................................................................. 270 Enhancing social support .......................................................................... 270 5 | Page Encouraging immigrant seniors to participate in policy formation .... 271 Local resources for translations, staff cultural sensitivity training......... 271 Canadian Education and Action.................................................................273 Challenges to public education ................................................................ 273 Frequently raised concerns across Canada ............................................ 274 Final Words .....................................................................................................275 References .....................................................................................................277 6 | Page Introduction “In Canada, two interesting demographic trends have been silently progressing: an aging population and a population growth based upon immigration. These patterns combine to form a new group of aging immigrants that seems to have evaded notice. For the most part, gerontological research has failed to recognize ethnicity or culture as a relevant variable and research on ethnicity has failed to recognize aging as a relevant variable.” (David Durst, 2005, p. 2) In recognition of the importance of immigrant and refugee seniors in Edmonton who enrich us with their diverse ethnicity, this review intends to summarize the current research literature,