Providing Care for Elderly Chinese People in Ottawa: The Case of The Glebe Centre as a Multicultural Long-term Care Providing Facility

Abstract

With the increasing number of Chinese immigrants settling in Ottawa, aging immigrants encounter a new challenge to move to a multicultural long-term care service center, when moving to a long-term care service center can be challenging for all elderly people. At the same time, it is also a challenge for long-term care service centers to understand immigrants’ needs and integrate Chinese culture into the provision of long-term care service. This thesis provides insights into the current state of the long-term care service for elderly Chinese people in Ottawa, using The Glebe Centre as a case study. It discusses major factors influencing the acculturation process for elderly Chinese people in a multicultural long-term care center and sheds light on how residents and their families negotiate with the health care organization for culturally specific services. In addition, the thesis has explored major challenges for The Glebe Centre when understanding Chinese residents’ needs and integrating multicultural long-term care services in practice. Apart from contributing to existing research on health communication and culture, the thesis also offers suggestions that can help multicultural long-term care service centers to address cross-cultural misunderstandings with the Chinese community and improve the quality of long-term care services for Chinese immigrants in the future.