IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0292730.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Older migrants’ perceptions of places to meet: Insights for social work practice

Author

Listed:
  • Hanna Mac Innes
  • Anna Dunér
  • Susanne Gustafsson
  • Lisbet Lindahl

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the experiences of older migrants’ (70+) access to and participation in different meeting places. Qualitative interviews were conducted with participants originating from Finland and four countries in the Western Balkans: Bosnia- Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia. The participants used everyday places in the neighborhood, which were not primarily meant to be meeting places, to create and uphold social contacts. These meeting places contributed to experiences of community and trust. Both everyday meeting places and organized meeting places were used to establish and develop relationships that could result in an exchange of both practical and emotional support. Perceptions of “not belonging”, limited proficiency in Swedish, and a strained financial situation created barriers to accessing some meeting places. The results of this study demonstrate the significance of meeting places that are not purposefully aimed at older people in general or older people from a specific country.

Suggested Citation

  • Hanna Mac Innes & Anna Dunér & Susanne Gustafsson & Lisbet Lindahl, 2023. "Older migrants’ perceptions of places to meet: Insights for social work practice," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(11), pages 1-10, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0292730
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292730
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0292730
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0292730&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0292730?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:sae:mrxval:v:42:y:2008:i:4:p:903-925 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Pudaric, Sonja & Sundquist, Jan & Johansson, Sven-Erik, 2003. "Country of birth, instrumental activities of daily living, self-rated health and mortality: a Swedish population-based survey of people aged 55-74," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(12), pages 2493-2503, June.
    3. Ertel, K.A. & Glymour, M.M. & Berkman, L.F., 2008. "Effects of social integration on preserving memory function in a nationally representative US elderly population," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 98(7), pages 1215-1220.
    4. Bjorn Anders Gustafsson & Hanna Mac Innes & Torun Österberg, 2017. "Age at immigration matters for labor market integration—the Swedish example," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-23, December.
    5. Österberg, Torun & Gustafsson, Björn, 2006. "Disability pension among immigrants in Sweden," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 805-816, August.
    6. Miia Bask, 2010. "Increasing Inequality in Social Exclusion Occurrence: The Case of Sweden During 1979–2003," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 97(3), pages 299-323, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Magnus Lodefalk & Fredrik Sjöholm & Aili Tang, 2022. "International trade and labour market integration of immigrants," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(6), pages 1650-1689, June.
    2. Patricia A Thomas & Debra Umberson, 2018. "Do Older Parents’ Relationships With Their Adult Children Affect Cognitive Limitations, and Does This Differ for Mothers and Fathers?," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 73(6), pages 1133-1142.
    3. Santosh Jatrana & Ken Richardson & Samba Siva Rao Pasupuleti, 2018. "Investigating the Dynamics of Migration and Health in Australia: A Longitudinal Study," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(4), pages 519-565, October.
    4. Marijana Badun, 2017. "Determinants of disability pensions in Croatia: the role of institutions," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 41(1), pages 109-128.
    5. Haslam, Catherine & Cruwys, Tegan & Haslam, S. Alexander, 2014. "“The we's have it”: Evidence for the distinctive benefits of group engagement in enhancing cognitive health in aging," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 57-66.
    6. Eva K. Andersson & Ida Borg, 2023. "Trajectories of Latent Vulnerability and Distress: Identifying Social and Spatial Fringes of the Swedish Population," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 993-1015, October.
    7. Luo, Ye & Pan, Xi & Zhang, Zhenmei, 2019. "Productive activities and cognitive decline among older adults in China: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 96-105.
    8. Miia Bask, 2011. "Cumulative Disadvantage and Connections Between Welfare Problems," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 103(3), pages 443-464, September.
    9. Ellwardt, Lea & Aartsen, Marja & Deeg, Dorly & Steverink, Nardi, 2013. "Does loneliness mediate the relation between social support and cognitive functioning in later life?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 116-124.
    10. Österberg, Torun & Gustafsson, Björn, 2006. "Disability pension among immigrants in Sweden," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 805-816, August.
    11. Ellwardt, Lea & Van Tilburg, Theo G. & Aartsen, Marja J., 2015. "The mix matters: Complex personal networks relate to higher cognitive functioning in old age," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 107-115.
    12. Kristina Willeke & Patrick Janson & Katharina Zink & Carolin Stupp & Sarah Kittel-Schneider & Anne Berghöfer & Thomas Ewert & Ryan King & Peter U. Heuschmann & Andreas Zapf & Manfred Wildner & Thomas , 2021. "Occurrence of Mental Illness and Mental Health Risks among the Self-Employed: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-25, August.
    13. Zhen Zhang & Jianxin Zhang, 2015. "Social Participation and Subjective Well-Being Among Retirees in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 143-160, August.
    14. Malmusi, Davide & Borrell, Carme & Benach, Joan, 2010. "Migration-related health inequalities: Showing the complex interactions between gender, social class and place of origin," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(9), pages 1610-1619, November.
    15. Andrea Fleisch Marcus & Alex H Illescas & Bernadette C Hohl & Adana A M Llanos, 2017. "Relationships between social isolation, neighborhood poverty, and cancer mortality in a population-based study of US adults," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-13, March.
    16. Innes, Hanna Mac, 2020. "Use of long-term care services in a universal welfare state - On the importance of age at migration," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    17. Riska Dwi Astuti & Bondan Sikoki & Ni Wayan Suriastini, 2022. "Female Excluded more than Male: Do Community Characteristics Matter?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 1099-1113, April.
    18. Langa, Kenneth M. & Larson, Eric B., 2014. "Education, brain health, and improving life opportunities for women," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 4(C), pages 56-58.
    19. Anders Boman, 2011. "Does migration pay? Earnings effects of geographic mobility following job displacement," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(4), pages 1369-1384, October.
    20. Bousmah, Marwân-al-Qays & Combes, Jean-Baptiste Simon & Abu-Zaineh, Mohammad, 2019. "Health differentials between citizens and immigrants in Europe: A heterogeneous convergence," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 235-243.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0292730. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.