Art in health and identity: Visual narratives of older Chinese immigrants to New Zealand

Abstract

Aims: This paper explores two older Chinese immigrants' visual narratives on the value and impact of paintings beyond aesthetic merit, and the role art plays in their health, well-being and identity construction. Method: Focusing on two participants' accounts, this paper draws on data collected in a larger project that investigates ageing, housing and well-being through interviewing 32 older Chinese immigrants in New Zealand. Findings: The analysis illustrates that immigration to a new culture in old age often gives rise to experiences of biographical disruption and status-discrepancy, which may invoke isolation, anxiety and a sense of dislocation and loss. Findings reveal that art-making aids the participants in addressing biographical disruption and status-discrepancy and appreciating the richness of multiplicities of the self. Conclusions: Art contributed to positively influencing the well-being of both participants after they moved to a new culture later in their lives.

Multiple Senses of Community Among Older Chinese Migrants to New Zealand

“…For the participants, emotional attachment to China is essential for their construction and maintenance of a SOC. Being far away from home increases the need of communing at a distance and the bridging of the ‘here’ (New Zealand) and over ‘there’ (China) for these ageing migrants (Li, ). Silverstone () proposed that what it means to be human is to commune with others and that such communing increasingly includes the use of various media technologies, which allow people to span physical spaces in a manner that forms an extended community landscape.…”

Challenges and adjustments in maintaining health and well‐being of older Asian immigrants in New Zealand: An integrative review

“…Most of the studies utilised qualitative methodologies (n = 18). Three studies used descriptive approaches, four used a narrative approach, two utilised phenomenology, one study drew on Simmel's approach of incidental events, and two studies developed a grounded/substantive theory . The other eight qualitative studies did not specify which exact qualitative methodology was used .…”

“…The single mixed‐methods study utilised a community‐based survey, and there were no intervention studies. Older Asian immigrants were the sole focus of 13 studies, and older Chinese immigrants were the most frequently studied (see Table ). Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, was the main region in which studies took place (see Table ).…”

“…A key reason for older Chinese and Korean immigrants moving to New Zealand was to reunite with their adult children and care for grandchildren. Caring for older family members (parents) was derived from a sense of obligation and perceived mutual intergenerational benefit . However, when they reunited with their families in New Zealand, older Asian immigrants were often faced with very different family dynamics to those back in their country of origin, presenting unique challenges to their way of life .…”

Why Chinese International Students Gamble: Behavioral Decision Making and its Impact on Identity Construction

“…Apart from these physical health issues, problem gambling also impacted the participants' social wellbeing, and thereby potentially handicapping their ability to successfully adapt to their new cultural surroundings. According to the social model of health, social connectedness is an important indicator of wellbeing (Li, 2012). However, their prolonged gambling hours in casinos that were frequently populated by other mostly Chinese patrons inadvertently led to a lack of intercultural contact between the participants and the local New Zealanders.…”