Social Exclusion Among Official Language Minority Older Adults: A Rapid Review of the Literature in Canada, Finland and Wales

Abstract

It has been suggested that older adults from minority linguistic and ethnic communities face higher risks of being socially excluded. The aim of this review was, therefore, to explore and review social exclusion studies conducted among official language minority older adults in three countries, namely Canada, Finland and Wales. A rapid review approach was used to review scientific literature in line with six social exclusion domains. The literature searches were made in Finnish, Swedish, English, French and Welsh and were restricted to research published within the timeline of 2001 – September 2019 and yielded 42 articles. The included studies were categorized into three different domains: socioeconomic influences, social participation and societal conditions. Converging and diverging patterns of social exclusion in old age were identified between the linguistic minorities. Linguistic barriers regarding access to health care and receiving health information were common across the three linguistic contexts, whereas exclusion from social participation was noticed amongst the linguistic minorities in Canada and Wales. Some connections between belonging to a linguistic minority and being exposed to a lower socioeconomic status and higher poverty risk were made, however, these findings were not robust across all three countries. The findings indicated that experiences of exclusion could be considered fairly common among linguistic minority older adults. We conclude that the research evidence presented in the review sheds light on issues of social inequality in old age between linguistic majorities and minorities, thus identifying important aspects of social exclusion to guide future research as well as policy and practice.

Loneliness and Off-Topic Verbosity Among Young Adults and Older Adults

“…Second, it is possible that older adults with high OTV speech quality tend to alienate the people around them who might otherwise be social connections, leading to higher levels of loneliness in high OTV older adult populations. This possibility would be consistent with previous findings that other limitations to verbal communication (e.g., linguistic barriers) are associated with higher loneliness in older adults and that older adults without family social systems tend to rely on casual socialization in public settings with other older adults for building social connection and support (Nyqvist et al, 2021; Torres, 2019). Finally, in keeping with the inhibitory deficit hypothesis (Arbuckle & Gold, 1993; D.…”

Determinants of loss to follow-up in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging: a retrospective cohort study

“…Lower SES and education attainment were reported among the French-speaking minority outside Quebec 11 35. With these disadvantages, social adaptation to an environment where you do not speak the language of the majority can be challenging 12. Language barrier may cause isolation, difficulty in accessing services and health disparity 12 36.…”

“…With these disadvantages, social adaptation to an environment where you do not speak the language of the majority can be challenging 12. Language barrier may cause isolation, difficulty in accessing services and health disparity 12 36. Studies have reported that patients with language barriers were more likely to skip a follow-up medical appointment37 and less likely to adhere to treatment regimen 38.…”

“…In 2016, French-speaking minorities (French as mother tongue) outside Quebec and English-speaking minorities in Quebec represented 3.8% and 4.6% of the respective populations 10. Based on the Canadian Community Health Survey (2001–2003), French-speaking minorities outside Quebec had lower socioeconomic status (SES), lower education attainment and higher likelihood of rural living, communication difficulties and social exclusion than their English-speaking counterparts11–13; factors that have been associated with increased LFU risk in prospective cohort studies. A Canadian prospective study has also reported higher LFU among immigrants compared with Canadian-born citizens 14.…”

Social exclusion in service settings amongst Swedish-speaking older adults in Finland: Language incongruency or identity discrimination, or both?

“…It has been argued that official linguistic minority older adults encounter barriers and obstacles when seeking and receiving services in their own native language (Holmqvist & van Vaerenbergh 2013;Nyqvist et al 2021a). Additionally, differences in service quality as well as a lack of linguistic congruency in care services have commonly been experienced amongst official linguistic minority older adults in various contexts (Batista et al 2019;Guerin et al 2018;Martin et al 2018;Stout et al 2008).…”