TAILIEUCHUNG - Impact of Culture on Depressive Symptoms of Elderly Chinese Immigrants

Issues related with powerlessness are usually present in their everyday life, especially as of the moment when people escape from patterns considered acceptable by society, being marginalized and deprived of possibilities. This fact occurs, for instance, with the elderly population, which is sometimes acknowledged as incapable of making its own decisions or even assuming its role within society. The health of the individuals and its alleged promotion seem to be closely related with power, which implies freedom of choice about several issues. Many of these issues are loaded with ethical dilemmas. During the aging process, a number of losses are perceived, as a natural result of the lifecycle, which culminates in old. | Original Research Impact of Culture on Depressive Symptoms of Elderly Chinese Immigrants Daniel WL Lai PhD1 Objectives The impact of culture on mental health has been inadequately researched. This study examines the effect of cultural factors on the depressive symptoms reported by elderly Chinese immigrants in Canada. Method Data from 1537 elderly Chinese immigrants who took part in a cross-sectional multisite survey on the health and well-being of older Chinese-Canadians were used. Participants were identified through telephone screening of randomly selected telephone numbers listed with Chinese surnames. A structured questionnaire was used to conduct face-to-face interviews. A Chinese version of the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale was used to assess depressive symptoms. Results Close to one-quarter of the elderly Chinese immigrants reported having at least a mild level of depressive symptoms. Having more cultural barriers and a higher level of identification with Chinese cultural values resulted in a higher probability of being depressive. Conclusions The importance of the sociocultural determinants of mental health is demonstrated. The health delivery system should be more sensitive to the unique ethnic and cultural differences of older immigrants. Can J Psychiatry 2004 49 820-827 Information on funding and support and author affiliations appears at the end of the article. Clinical Implications The health system should pay additional attention to the cultural uniqueness of service users and should enhance cultural appropriateness in service provision. Medical professionals should extend their clinical attention beyond symptoms and attend to the cultural values and barriers in health assessment. Baseline studies on depressive symptoms should be conducted and used as indicators for assessing the effectiveness of intervention strategies at policy and patient levels. Limitations This study only included participants in community dwellings and could not be .

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