Education Commons^™

Challenges And Barriers To Services For Immigrant Seniors In Canada: "You Are Among Others But You Feel Alone", Miriam Stewart, Edward Shizha, Edward Makwarimba, Denise Spitzer, Ernest N. Khalema, Christina D. Nsaliwa

Edward Shizha

This paper seeks to explore varied interrelated challenges and barriers experienced by immigrant seniors. Senior immigrants representing diverse ethnicities (Chinese, Afro Caribbean, Former Yugoslavian, Spanish) described their challenges, support needs, and barriers to service access. Service providers and policy makers from organizations serving immigrant seniors were interviewed to elicit their views on barriers to access and appropriateness of services for immigrant seniors. Qualitative methods were employed to enhance understanding of meanings, perceptions, beliefs, values, and behaviors of immigrant seniors, and investigate sensitive issues experienced by vulnerable groups. The qualitative data were subjected to thematic content analysis. Findings indicate that seniors …