Psychology Department, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA.
Human Development and Family Science, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, USA.
Gerontologist. 2023 Aug 24;63(7):1238-1247. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnad013.
Refugees flee their home countries due to life-threatening situations and are resettled in countries such as the United States. For older refugees, their cultural background and forced migration experience may affect how they perceive successful aging in their host countries. As such, it is important to understand how aging refugees perceive aging well to enhance their well-being in the host communities. Thus, the present study explores perceptions of successful aging among refugees in the United States.
Twenty-one Burundian refugees, aged 50-67, were recruited from an upper Midwest community to participate in interviews on their perceptions of successful aging. The qualitative interviews were analyzed using thematic content analysis.
Emergent themes showed that aging refugees' perceptions of successful aging were in some ways consistent with perceptions among other nonrefugee aging populations, such as perceptions related to physical functioning and health. Yet, in many ways, refugees' unique background and experiences seemed to lead to unique aging perceptions, such as perceiving an earlier onset of aging and expressing surprise and appreciation to experience old age.
Study findings suggest important future directions and potential implications for refugee host regions and communities on how they can better support aging refugees as well as develop effective interventions to promote well-being.
难民因生命受到威胁而逃离自己的国家，并在诸如美国这样的国家重新定居。对于年龄较大的难民来说，他们的文化背景和被迫迁移的经历可能会影响他们对在所在国成功老龄化的看法。因此，了解老龄化难民如何看待健康老龄化对于增强他们在所在社区的幸福感非常重要。因此，本研究探讨了美国难民对成功老龄化的看法。
从中西部一个社区招募了 21 名年龄在 50-67 岁的布隆迪难民，对他们对成功老龄化的看法进行访谈。使用主题内容分析法对定性访谈进行分析。
出现的主题表明，老龄化难民对成功老龄化的看法在某些方面与其他非难民老龄化人群的看法一致，例如与身体功能和健康相关的看法。然而，在许多方面，难民独特的背景和经历似乎导致了独特的老龄化观念，例如更早地感知到衰老，并对体验老年感到惊讶和感激。
研究结果表明，对于难民收容地区和社区来说，未来有重要的方向和潜在的影响，以及如何更好地支持老龄化难民，并制定有效的干预措施来促进幸福感。
