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- Heikkilä, Kristiina, 1958-, et al.
(författare)
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Elderly care for ethnic minorities : Wishes and expectations among elderly Finns in Sweden
- 2003
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Ingår i: Ethnicity and Health. - BASINGSTOKE : Taylor & Francis. - 1355-7858 .- 1465-3419. ; 8:2, s. 135-146
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives. Although elderly people from immigrant and minority groups utilise elderly care facilities to a lesser extent than elderly people from majority groups, there is a lack of research on how elderly people with different ethnic backgrounds wish and expect to be cared for when they are in need of institutional elderly care. This study aims to illuminate the role that culturally appropriate care plays in elderly Finnish immigrants’ wishes and expectations of institutional elderly care in Sweden. Design. Thirty-nine elderly Finnish immigrants in Sweden, aged 75 years or more, were interviewed in their homes. The data were analysed with latent qualitative content analysis. Results. The elderly Finnish immigrants in Sweden wished to be able to continue living in their current homes for as long as possible. Later on, when entering institutional elderly care, they wanted to feel continuity, familiarity, security and companionship with others. As immigrants, they had to choose to be cared for either in well-known physical environments close to their current homes, or in a culturally appropriate care setting with familiar socio-cultural conditions. Conclusions. To be able to provide institutional elderly care for minority groups it is important to ease the access to elderly care amenities by providing care that results in maintaining as much continuity and familiarity as possible in the lives of the elderly people. This includes the care providers and other residents who share the familiar aspects of their lives. This involves providing culturally appropriate elderly care close to the elderly people’s current homes.
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| 2. |
- Heikkilä, Kristiina, 1958-, et al.
(författare)
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Health care experiences and beliefs of elderly Finnish immigrants in Sweden
- 2000
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Ingår i: Journal of Transcultural Nursing. - : Sage Publications. - 1043-6596 .- 1552-7832. ; 11:4, s. 281-289
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: To elucidate the experiences and beliefs of care of elderly Finnish immigrants living in Sweden (Sweden-Finns) in order to gain an understanding of the role ethnic background plays in these experiences and beliefs. Design: 39 elderly Sweden-Finns living in Stockholm were interviewed. The data were analysed hermeneutically. Results: On a surface level, the care in Sweden was culturally congruent to elderly Sweden-Finns’ experiences and beliefs of care. However, care in Finland and the care providers with Finnish background were regarded as superior to Swedish caregivers, giving a deeper sense of familiarity and trust in anticipation of good care. Implications for practice: Culturally appropriate care with care providers sharing the same ethnic background is important for ethnic elderly persons in enabling familiarity and trust between staff and patients.
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| 3. |
- Heikkilä, Kristiina
(författare)
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The role of ethnic identity in care of elderly Finnish immigrants
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The role of ethnicity in care of elderly Finnish immigrants Most Western countries are becoming increasingly multicultural because of immigration. Many of these immigrants grow old in a second homeland and will need health and elderly care in the future. In Sweden, the largest immigrant group comes from its neighbouring country, Finland. Little is known about how this group experiences present health care or their expectations of future elderly care. The overall aim of the thesis was to describe and to deepen the understanding of elderly Finnish immigrants' experiences of health care and elderly care and the role that ethnicity played in these experiences. The specific aims were to: elucidate the elderly Sweden-Finns' experiences and beliefs about health care in Sweden, in order to gain an understanding of how ethnic background affects the elderly immigrated persons' experiences and beliefs in the host country (I); illuminate the role that culturally appropriate care plays in relation to the elderly Finnish immigrants' wishes and expectations of institutional elderly care (II); describe and compare the elderly Finnish immigrants' perceptions of health care, both among those who have continued to live in Sweden and those who have re-migrated to Finland (III); describe the cultural adjustments that had been made at a specific elderly care setting, the Finnish Home, and illustrate the impact of cultural adjustments on care, as conditions that promoted the well-being of the residents (IV). All the participants were born in Finland and Finnish was their native language and they lived (I-II and IV) or had lived in Sweden. In I-II, the 39 participants were 75 years or older and in III-IV, 65 years or older. In III, 217 persons participated in Finland, and 643 persons participated in Sweden. All residents, staff and visitors of Finnish Home participated in IV. Qualitative interviews were conducted in the participants' homes (I-II), a mailed questionnaire was used in Study III, and an ethnographic study design was used in Study IV. Several different analysis methods were used: Hermeneutical ad hoc analysis (I), latent content analysis (II), statistical analysis (III), and an ethnographic method (IV). The results show that the Swedish health care system is congruent with the elderly Finnish immigrants' expectations (I), and their experiences of care were good (III). Their experiences of the Finnish health care system were also good (III). However, sharing the same ethnic background as the care providers was believed to lead to better care (I). When thinking about future elderly care, the elderly Finnish immigrants wished to feel familiarity, continuity in life, security, and companionship. This could be achieved either in the well-known physical environment of their current homes, in an elderly care setting in their part of town, or in a well-known socio-cultural environment at an elderly care setting where Finnish was spoken and the care providers and fellow-residents were Finns (II). When being cared for in a culturally adjusted elderly care setting, the care became culturally congruent as the care providers, and the residents played the same language and ethnicity game (IV). The conclusions from the thesis show that ethnicity and ethnic identity, a shared mother language, and the place, play an important role in the care of elderly Finnish immigrants. In addition to this, the elderly Finns experienced a feeling of at-homeness when being cared for by members of their own ethnic group, in a familiar place, with people who spoke the same native language.
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