Culturally Familiar Environment Among Immigrant Korean Elders

Abstract

This study's purpose was to describe the concept of familiarity for immigrant Korean elders as expressed through clothing, objects, songs/music, foods, and associated feelings. A descriptive exploratory design with in-depth, face-to-face interviews was used. A convenience sample of 14 immigrant Korean elders, age 63 to 82 years, was recruited from a Korean senior apartment complex. Interviews were tape-recorded and then transcribed in Korean by the first author. Constant comparative analysis was used to derive eight themes related to feelings and practice associated with culturally familiar items: homesickness, comfort, pleasure, mixed feelings, attachment, pride, nostalgic practice, and essentiality. These findings about familiarity could be utilized with ethnic minority elders to enhance their sense of belonging and physical and psychological comfort.

Depression Among Korean Immigrant Elders Living in Canada and the United States: A Comparative Study

“…Immigrant elders who moved to the host country in their mid-adulthood or later may be particularly slow to adapt to their new culture's norms, and may continue to sustain cultural practices from their home country of origin. Some of these older immigrants migrated in late adulthood through their children's sponsorship, as parents of firstgeneration adult children; others are first-generation immigrants themselves, who migrated earlier and grew older (Son & Kim, 2006). Although there was no systematic comparative study of these two subgroups, it seems that the first group of immigrant elders is more likely to reside within an ethnic enclave in large metropolitan cities, such as New York City or Toronto.…”

Enoch Senior’s College for Korean Immigrant Seniors: Quality of Life Effects

“…For example, a study in the Greater Vancouver Regional District found that Korean seniors are less likely to use local services and amenities than are Chinese seniors and rely on ethnic churches as a resource (Hwang, 2008). Research also shows that Korean seniors have a strong desire to maintain ethnic ties and surround themselves with familiar cultural touchstones, including in their choice of ethnic foods (Hurh & Kim, 1990; Lee, 2007; Son & Kim, 2006). Moreover, there are generational differences within the Korean population.…”

New Drug Use Among Agricultural Workers

“…We can consider the place where anyone spends most their time, owing to residence and participation in local activities including work or employment, "a locale of familiarity." Such a place has cultural valence and some form of social affinity (Jamaat, 2011;Vela-McConnell, 1999) such as the creation of comfort and safety through program interventions (Zunker et al, 2008) or the ease of "virtual" online maneuverability (Legge et al, 2012), past remembered experiences of everyday events, favorite activities, friendships and family remembrances (Hirsch et al, 2009;Son & Kim, 2006), and local landmarks and spatial pathways (Bigelow, 1996). In this study of agricultural workers, these locales of familiarity grounded the general constructs of home town (birthplace) and any number of home-base communities to which one has relocated in succession and spent a relatively large amount of time (even for farm workers).…”