The Land of Compounding Marginalization Family-Sponsored Immigrant Older Adults’ Access to Dementia Care in Canada

Abstract

Family-sponsored immigrant older adults are an extremely vulnerable group that experience multiple, compounding forms of marginalization in Canadian society. Stigma and shame, language and cultural incongruence, as well as economic policy related to both immigration and long-term care delivery impede family-sponsored immigrant older adult’s access to dementia care. Additionally, flawed narratives framing dementia as a part of the normal ageing process, ill-informed criticisms of immigrant older adults failure to integrate into Canadian society, and the erroneous assumption that family-sponsored immigrant older adults do not contribute to the Canadian economy must be challenged. Overall, it is essential that we work to better understand the reasons why family-sponsored immigrant older adults struggle to access appropriate dementia care. Learning from the challenges faced by family-sponsored immigrant older adults can help us to reform our nation’s elder care system to best support the social, emotional, mental, and physical health of Canada’s aging and increasingly diverse population.