Research Library

Living arrangements and loneliness of South Asian immigrant seniors in Edmonton, Canada

Abstract
This paper examines the relationships between self-reported loneliness and living arrangements. A questionnaire with some open-ended questions was administered face-to-face in English, Hindi or Punjabi to a sample of 161 elderly South Asian immigrants 60 or more years of age living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 2003. The majority of respondents said that they never felt lonely. More than one in three (37.3%) respondents indicated that they felt lonely occasionally, frequently or all of the time. Those living alone were significantly more likely to report feeling lonely at least occasionally than were those living with others, especially those living with their spouse in an extended family. The fact that South Asian immigrant seniors typically lived with others, often in an extended family with or without their spouse, and rarely lived alone protected them to some extent from loneliness. However, our findings showed that among those living with others, it was the amount of waking time spent alone at home and the quality of family relationships rather than living arrangement per se that significantly predicted self-reported loneliness. Nevertheless, living in a larger household was associated with spending less time alone.
Notes

Open-access – No

Community organizations

NA

Key recommendations

Support seniors to develop English language competency, adequate income, and sufficient income so that they can leave home to build social connections because this can increase their social contact with both co-ethnic and host society members; Government and community agencies to provide drop-in programmes and friendly visitors programmes.

Gaps identified

Not a gap necessarily, but the authors note that South Asian senior immigrants may need a shift in their expectations ‘regarding the amount and type of social and family contact’ as they settle in Canada. This cultural reality may be new to most of them because living in an extended family could have been a different experience for them in their home countries in South Asia. Family members of the seniors of South Asian descent bear the responsibility of ‘finding ways to help their seniors make and maintain social connections both within and outside the family’.

Key findings

The findings reveal that that living with close or extended family members (with or without their spouse) prevents South Asian immigrant seniors from feeling of loneliness. In other words, living in larger families reduces loneliness among senior South Asian immigrants. This relationship, however, also depends on whether they are cared for by family members and whether they’re not alone for long periods of time at home.

Key populations

South Asian immigrants of 60 or more years of age

Location

Edmonton, Alberta

Integration timeline

At what point during the integration process the study was conducted?

Our respondents had been in Canada for 16.3 years on average (range 1–43 years)


Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Collections children-youth-and-elderly , physical-and-mental-health

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