This paper explores the experiences of Chinese immigrant caregiver employees (CEs) residing in Southern Ontario, Canada. Qualitative analysis of participant interviews with thirteen Mandarin Chinese immigrant CEs revealed family conflicts due to cultural differences and an intergenerational gap between CEs and their care recipients. CEs also had future concerns in regards to their own health and the lack of long-term care facilities that offer cultural services for immigrant seniors. These findings provide an opportunity for social workers to collaborate with other service providers to provide ethno-specific and culturally sensitive health, community. and employment services to immigrant ethnic minority CEs.
Caregiver-employees (CEs) are individuals who fulfill an unpaid caregiving role while simultaneously sustaining paid work. Managing these dual roles can place CEs at increased risk for caregiving burden, decreased workplace productivity and/or depressive symptoms. Few studies have examined immigrant CEs perspectives on caregiving in Canada and how cultural obligations shape caregiving in Mandarin-speaking Chinese immigrant families. The purpose of the present study was twofold: 1) to understand the perspectives on caregiving of Mandarinspeaking Chinese immigrant CEs residing in Southern Ontario, Canada, and; 2) to explore how, post-migration, CEs manage their dual roles of unpaid caregiving and paid work. Data analysis of interviews from thirteen Mandarin-speaking Chinese immigrants, using Charmaz's constructivist grounded theory, revealed five themes: 1) Filial Responsibility; 2) Gender Roles; 3) Managing dual roles; 4) Family Conflicts, and; 5) Future Concerns. This paper discusses the first three themes. Participants' narratives suggest that there was excessive demand on CEs time to help Policies should seek to bridge Eastern and Western cultural gaps between seniors and their caregivers while facilitating more accommodating and understanding workplace environments for immigrant CEs.
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