By Sarah Li Zhao, MA is a 2010 MSW Candidate at the Brown School of Social Work - Since the 1990s, the number of older immigrants age 65 and above has been increasing from 2.7 to 4.3 million, about 11% of all immigrants to the United States. A New York Times’ article on August 30, 2009, Invisible Immigrants, Old and Left With ‘Nobody to Talk To,’ featured that “ethnic elderly are among the most isolated people in America.” Mui & Kang’s (2006) study of more than 400 Asian immigrant elders found that 40% of them were depressed, demonstrating the association between acculturation stress and depressive symptoms among Asian immigrant populations. 

Dr. Harold Law, the president of the St. Louis Christian Chinese Community Service Center (STL-CCCSC) said, “Older immigrants are sometimes isolated by heavy domestic responsibility for their working adult children, such as childcare and housekeeping. As more than half of recent older immigrants have limited English language skills, families become their only social and economic support. However, when families can not guarantee a satisfactory late life, immigrant older adults often feel lonely, isolated, and/or depressed”. Studies show that depression is mainly associated with life cycle changes, linguistic barriers, lack of family and social support, and financial difficulty.

There are three major factors affecting older immigrants’ acculturation and social integration. First, according to a study conducted by Diwan (2008), older immigrants are less likely to interact with others, but rely more on family and organizations within their ethnic communities. Second, family dependency can turn to a risk factor if families hinder seniors from building social ties beyond their families. Third, older immigrants have limited mobility due to lack of transportation service and disabilities. 

In St. Louis, several strategies have been developed to address older adults’ social isolation, such as civic engagement, community service intervention, and creating aging-friendly communities. The St. Louis Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC), a non-denominational neighborhood program for older adults, supports healthy aging by providing health and wellness education, socialization, outreach and increased access to support services to its 600⁺ members. Dr. Peggy Neufeld, the St. Louis NORC Research & Community Liaison, said, “NORC helps prevent social isolation and depression through connecting neighbors and linking seniors to resources.” Some organizations have developed programs tailored to the needs of immigrant older adults. The “Elder Links” of the International Institute is a one-stop-shop service providing assessment, case management, education, and naturalization assistance to 400 elderly immigrants. The STL-CCCSC opened free classes for elder Chinese to learn folk dance, calligraphy, and Tai Chi. These interventions adopt a person-environment perspective to balance the demands of the environment and immigrant older adults’ strengths.