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ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE ELDERLY AND CAREGIVING AMONG ASIAN INDIAN IMMIGRANTS RESIDING IN CINCINNATI

JOSEPH, VANYA EMMANUELINE
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1105732594

Abstract Details

2005, MA, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences : Anthropology.
Asian Indians in the US represent a diverse and growing immigrant minority. Many who have come in recent decades have sponsored older family members and are themselves aging, yet virtually nothing is known about how core, pan-Indian cultural values like filial piety and familism operate in Indian immigrant families with an elderly family member. With the aim of qualitatively exploring and describing attitudes towards aging, the elderly, and familial caregiving in the context of migration, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five, first generation immigrant Hindu Indian women (32+) who had lived with and provided care for an elderly relative (all parents) in the US. In this sample, only one participant had provided total care (bathing, feeding toileting, etc.) to a parent. While most interviews involved diverse expressions of veneration of the elderly and a sense of filial responsibility toward them, those who had encountered difficult caregiving more commonly mentioned the stresses and conflicts associated with multigenerational households. Also, in their perceptions and attitudes toward caregiving for the elderly, participants discussed and displayed a duality. One set of more “traditional” attitudes based on values of filial piety and familism emerged when participants spoke of their elderly parents. Another set of more modern or late capitalist attitudes emphasizing self-reliance or reliance on extra-familial (e.g. institutional) sources of old-age support emerged when participants spoke of their own futures. This duality in attitudes expressed by first generation Asian Indian immigrants toward aging and care-giving for the elderly has implications for emergent forms of cultural identity and for the aging-related health care needs they may experience. Many middle class immigrants with the economic resources needed to bring more family or to provide more personalized or in-home care (like those interviewed here) may place only limited demands on the health care system. However, those with more limited family or economic resources may have to rely on professional health care providers for assistance in culturally sensitive forms of caregiving for their elderly kin.
Dr. C. Jeffrey Jacobson, Jr. (Advisor)
82 p.
Anthropology, Cultural
Indian Immigrants; Elderly; Caregiving; Attitudes

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • JOSEPH, V. E. (2005). ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE ELDERLY AND CAREGIVING AMONG ASIAN INDIAN IMMIGRANTS RESIDING IN CINCINNATI [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1105732594

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • JOSEPH, VANYA. ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE ELDERLY AND CAREGIVING AMONG ASIAN INDIAN IMMIGRANTS RESIDING IN CINCINNATI. 2005. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1105732594.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • JOSEPH, VANYA. "ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE ELDERLY AND CAREGIVING AMONG ASIAN INDIAN IMMIGRANTS RESIDING IN CINCINNATI." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1105732594

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.