Author: Yingshi Shen
Shen, Yingshi, 2019 Adult relatives’ understandings of the migratory loss experiences of their Chinese immigrant elders and their support strategies, Flinders University, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work
Terms of Use: This electronic version is (or will be) made publicly available by Flinders University in accordance with its open access policy for student theses. Copyright in this thesis remains with the author. You may use this material for uses permitted under the Copyright Act 1968. If you are the owner of any included third party copyright material and/or you believe that any material has been made available without permission of the copyright owner please contact copyright@flinders.edu.au with the details.
This study explored adult relatives’ understanding of migratory loss experiences of their Chinese immigrant elders and the strategies they use to support their elders in Australian, and in particular in Adelaide, South Australia. While there is general agreement that migration brings about losses and grieving reactions, less is known about how the Chinese family, with its unique cultural characteristics, plays a critical role in the experience of elderly immigrant family members. Ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief experienced by Chinese immigrant elders were the major loss and grief theoretical lines of inquiry in the study. In addition to loss and grief there was an examination of the strategies adult relatives use to support their elders. Participants were recruited through Chinese associations and networks. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The results were classified into six themes: (1) loss experienced by immigrant elders as seen from the perspective of their adult relatives; (2) immigrant elders’ reactions to loss as seen from the perspective of their adult relatives; (3) ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief experienced by Chinese immigrant elders; (4) the effects of living in a new country; (5) strategies used by the participants to support their immigrant elders, and (6) the adult relatives’ views about the most important supports for their immigrant elders living in Australia. The study contends that migratory loss experiences of Chinese immigrant elders is greatly influenced by Chinese culture. The strategies that adult relatives use to support elders’ migratory grief is also shaped by Chinese culture, and affects their immigrant elders’ migratory loss experiences and the reactions to loss. A discussion around a support model for Chinese immigrant elders is offered and implications and suggestions for future research are proposed.
Keywords: Chinese immigrant elders, migratory loss, migratory grief, ambiguous loss, disenfranchised grief
Subject: Nursing thesis
Thesis type: Graduate Diploma
Completed: 2019
School: College of Education, Psychology and Social Work
Supervisor: Carol Irizarry