Digital Information Technology Use and Transnational Healthcare: A Population-Based Study on Older Russian-Speaking Migrants in Finland

This study examines the association between digital information technology (DIT) use and the utilization of transnational healthcare (THC) in older migrants, and investigates how this relationship depends on social integration or perceived discrimination in health services in the destination country. The data from a population-based study conducted in Finland in 2019, which targeted Russian-speaking residents aged 50 and above (n = 1082) nationwide, are analyzed. The analysis demonstrates that those who had a high level of DIT use were significantly more likely to use THC than those who had a low level of use. However, the findings do not show that the relationship depends on social integration or perceived discrimination. Older migrants can actively use transnational networks to address their health and well-being issues by using DIT and seeking healthcare abroad. Their health service use can be illustrated as an active process involving various geographical domains.

Development of English among Older Chinese Migrants in Australia: A Case of Tense and Aspect

Language barrier among older migrants affects various areas of their life such as physical and mental well-being and participation in the community. However, little is known about their actual language attainment. This study investigates the development of tense and aspect (TA) in English through focused instructions among older Chinese migrants in Australia. TA is expressed through morphological and syntactic means in English, while in Chinese, tense is expressed lexically, and aspect via contextual cues and aspect markers. These typological contrasts create learning difficulties among Chinese learners in acquiring English TA. The Aspect Hypothesis (Andersen & Shirai, 1994) claims that the acquisition of aspect is related to verb semantics and, for instance, acquisition of progressive starts with action verbs then extends to Accomplishment and Achievement (Sugya & Shirai, 2007). From a morphosyntactic viewpoint Processability Theory (PT, Pinemann 1998) hypothesises a universal sequence of second language development where V-ing and V-ed are acquired at the category-procedure stage, followed by verb phrase agreement between auxiliary and lexical verb and finally subject-verb agreement on the verb at sentence procedure stage. We broach whether the older migrant learners would be able to learn TA in English. Seven Chinese migrants aged 60-69 who arrived in Australia at the age of between 35 and 60 participated in this study. They received four-week focused instruction on TA following the stages described in PT, and their speech production data were collected before and after the instruction. Analyses indicated that the participants improved their markings of TA after the instruction, and their PT developmental stage was a crucial factor in acquiring TA. The study emphasises the importance of continuous language training for older migrants to encourage their language development, especially for those learning a typologically different language from their first language. Thus, this paper addresses a research gap in older migrants’ second language learning and highlights the importance of research with adult migrants to gain insight into their bilingualism.

Migrants’ pathways to aged care: the role of local relationships of care in facilitating access for super-diverse older populations

The literature on older migrants often focuses on identifying the characteristics of ethnic groups that constitute ‘barriers’ for members of these populations to access care. This paper offers an alternative conceptualisation of access to care, by combining relational approaches to place and the notion of super-diversity. From this perspective, ‘access to care’ is perceived as an outcome of an individual's embeddedness in relationships of care in urban places. The objective of the study is to identify relationships of care that facilitate access to aged care for older first-generation migrants. Thirty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with older migrants who were residents of Nijmegen or The Hague, The Netherlands. All interviewees had accessed home care, home aid and/or day care. Both relationships with minority-specific services and informal relationships of care, particularly those within local minority communities, were found to facilitate access to aged care. Past experiences with health and social care were also found to influence current relationships with formal care providers. This study, therefore, suggests that policy makers and care organisations should build long-term positive relationships with new and incoming migrant groups. In addition, it argues that policy makers and care providers should identify locally relevant shared migration-related (rather than ethnic) identities around which communities can be mobilised and targeted with appropriate services.

The Effects of Mobile Social Media Use on Older Migrants’ Social Integration and Life Satisfaction: Use Types and Self-Esteem Perspective

With the development of society and economy, more and more elderly people migrate from rural to urban areas. Nowadays, mobile social media (MSM) is a very important tool for information search, social communication, and entertainment among older migrants, and it is necessary to clear how the self-esteem level and the use types of MSM contribute to older migrants’ social integration and life satisfaction. Based on the literature review, we constructed a research model and tested the model using sample data of 306 Chinese older migrants. The results show that self-esteem has a negative impact on the social use and entertainment use of MSM. Our study also confirms that social use and entertainment use have different effects on older migrants’ social integration and life satisfaction. Social use has a positive impact on social integration and life satisfaction, while entertainment use has a negative impact on social integration and has no significant impact on life satisfaction. Furthermore, the perceived social integration of older adults can significantly predict their life satisfaction.

Whose migration matters? The role of migration in social networks and mental health among rural older adults in China

The dual demographic changes in massive rural-to-urban labour migration and population ageing have significantly impacted the lives of older adults, who have either been left behind in rural regions or migrated to urban areas. While many extant studies on migration and wellbeing of older adults have focused on either migrating or left-behind older adults, a very limited number of studies have directly compared these two groups. Utilising data from the China Longitudinal Ageing Social Survey, this study examines the impacts of different migration patterns (i.e. migrating older adults, left-behind older adults and non-migrating older adults) on the social networks and mental health of older adults in rural China. Structural equation modelling results showed that older adults who have been left behind reported weaker family ties and poorer mental health than the other older adults. Moreover, weakened family ties increased older adults’ risk of developing mental health problems. Older migrants reported the lowest level of depressive symptoms among the three groups of older adults. However, migration may be associated with poorer mental health among the older migrants due to the shrinking/weakening of family/friendship ties.