Health care and social service use among Chinese immigrant elders

We explored patterns and reasons for health and social service use among Chinese immigrant elders. Interviews were conducted with 27 Chinese immigrant elders, 11 adult care giving children, and 12 health and social service providers. Content analysis of these data indicated that participants across groups agreed that Chinese elders underutilize services because of problems related to language, transportation, cost, long waits for appointments, and because of cultural norms/values related to need for care, preference for self-over professional care, fear, and distrust of western biomedicine, and the obligation to refrain from using formal services. These problems are complicated by geographical dispersion and dialect differences in the local Chinese immigrant community.