Title: WHEN EAST MEETS WEST: OLDER CHINESE IMMIGRANTS’ PERCEPTIONS AND EXPERIENCES OF MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL ILLNESS
Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Laura Hurd
Committee members: Dr. Moss Norman, Dr. Sabrina Wong
Defence Chair: Dr. Guy Faulkner
Abstract:
Introduction:
In this study, I examined how older Chinese immigrants perceived and experienced mental health and mental illness. Older Chinese immigrants are at higher risk of mental illness compared to the general Canadian population (Chen et al., 2008). Previous research has found that older Chinese immigrants are one of the least likely groups of people to engage in help-seeking for mental health (Tieu & Konnert, 2014). Studies have also found that barriers to help-seeking include language, lack of knowledge of the healthcare system, and cultural stigma surrounding mental health (Mao et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2017; Yang et al., 2014). However, the barrier found to impede help-seeking the most is a lack of mental health literacy (Chao et al., 2020; Huang et al., 2019). Although many quantitative studies in Canada have investigated the impacts of these barriers, little is known about the lived mental health and illness experiences of older Chinese immigrants. Seeking to address these gaps and drawing on symbolic interactionism as my theoretical framework, the purpose of my study was to understand the meanings older Chinese immigrants attribute to mental health and illness, and how the process of immigration impacts their perceptions and experiences of mental health.
Method:
I conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 10 older Chinese immigrants (five men and five women). Participants ranged in age from 65 to 85 years (average age of 76) and had immigrated to Canada after 2010. Each participant was interviewed once in Mandarin for an average of one hour and a total of 570 interview minutes or 9.5 hours. The data were audio-coded and thematically analyzed.
Results:
My thematic analysis resulted in the identification of three key themes, namely, mental health and illness as: a) an emotional and behavioural continuum; b) the product of individual effort; and c) positively and negatively influenced by acculturation. The first theme encompassed the feelings and behaviours my participants associated with good mental health (e.g., happiness, purpose, and less stress), poor mental health (e.g., lack of self control, negative thoughts, and loneliness), and mental illness (e.g., severe forms of poor mental health, a spectrum, and clinical symptoms). The second theme included seven strategies that my participants identified as being essential for fostering and maintaining mental health, namely: (1) caring for others; (2) daily routines; (3) lifelong learning; (4) education; (5) cognitive functioning; (6) physical activity; and (7) social interaction. The final theme referred to my participants’ reflections on the positive (slower pace of life) and negative (language barriers and intergenerational conflicts) impacts of acculturation towards their mental health during and after the process of immigration.
Conclusions:
My findings provide insight into the meanings that older Chinese immigrants attribute to mental health and mental illness as well as the challenges they experience in fostering and maintaining the same. Therefore, my study findings are important for policy makers and health and social service professionals who work with older Chinese immigrants and may help to expand mental health literacy programs, mental health support, translation services, and English language classes.