Older adults
The United Nations defines “older” persons as those over the age of 60 years. However, sociocultural referents are also used to define age, including factors such as family status (grandparents), physical appearance and life expectancy in the region in which they originate. This allows for variation in definitions between countries in the developing and developed world (UNHCR, 2022).
Newcomer older adults make up a small proportion (3.3%) of new immigrants and refugees and may arrive later to join their families (Government of Canada, 2021).
Older recent immigrants to Canada typically come under the sponsored family class (88% in 2017), usually sponsored by their adult children, or the resettled refugee and protected person class (9% in 2017), (Government of Canada, 2019c). These numbers have been increasing over the past few years because of the new Parent and Grandparent Immigration Program.
The effects of trauma, experiences of forced and/or long periods of displacement, exposure to diseases, poor nutrition and lack of adequate health care have serious implications for the physical and mental health of older refugees. Mental health problems and illnesses can be serious issues for older immigrants within their first few years after arrival due to lack of access to care or exacerbated chronic diseases.
Recent older immigrants are less likely than Canadian-born older adults to report excellent or very good self-rated health (Gee et al., 2004; Um & Lightman, 2017), and they may experience an inverse “healthy immigrant effect” (Gee et al., 2004). Recent older immigrants report worse health, but the longer they reside in Canada, the more likely they are to perceive their health as better (Gee et al., 2004).
As with all groups of newcomers, there are differences among older immigrants.
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Older, racialized immigrant men are more likely to report poorer health than older Canadian-born men.
Older, racialized, recent immigrant women are less likely to report poorer health than older Canadian-born women (Kobayashi & Prus, 2012). -
When other factors are considered, this health difference remains for older, racialized, recent immigrant men; older, racialized immigrant women become comparable to Canadian-born women (Kobayashi & Prus, 2012).
Health service providers may overlook or misdiagnose the symptoms associated with mental health problems and illnesses as part of the normal aging process. This decreases quality of life and can lead to more serious consequences in older populations, such as suicide (Fiske et al., 2009).