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Invisible Voices: An Intersectional Exploration of Quality of Life for Elderly South Asian Immigrant Women in a Canadian Sample

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Abstract

Despite the emerging presence of South Asian elderly population in Canada, there continues to be a paucity of research concerning the immigration and acculturation experiences of these marginalized elderly populations and their quality of life. This research builds knowledge of the quality of life experiences faced by South Asian elderly immigrant women residing in Canada using an intersectional analytical framework. While there is a gradually developing body of research regarding elder persons globally, the present research is unique in that explores challenges, stresses and strains, and builds an understanding of the treatment of older ethnic minorities and immigrant families. Furthermore, this research has implications for policies and practices governing these growing aging populations. Finally, this research gives voice to a “silenced” and invisible group of elders whose stories may help to make improvements in the quality of living and well-being for the aging South Asian immigrant population in Canada.

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Notes

  1. “South Asian (sometimes referred to as East Indian) may be defined as any person who reports an ethnicity associated with the Southern part of Asia or who self-identifies as part of the South Asian visible minority group. This includes people who classify themselves as Bangladeshi, Bengali, East Indian, Goan, Gujrati, Hindu, Ismaili, Kashmiri, Nepali, Pakistani, Punjabi, Sikh, Sinhalese, Sri Lankan and Tamil ancestry” (Tran et al. 2005: 11)

  2. Load shedding refers to the practice of deliberately engineered rolling electrical blackouts designed to reduce the possibility of a total electrical blackout.

  3. ODSP is the Ontario Disability Services Program

  4. Here the respondent is referring to the admonition to stay home, in Jaffna, the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.

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  1. Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, 2000 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, ON, L1H 7K4, Canada

    Shahid Alvi & Arshia U. Zaidi

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  1. Shahid Alvi
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Correspondence to Shahid Alvi.

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Alvi, S., Zaidi, A.U. Invisible Voices: An Intersectional Exploration of Quality of Life for Elderly South Asian Immigrant Women in a Canadian Sample. J Cross Cult Gerontol 32, 147–170 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-017-9315-7

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