Documenting Migration and Medical Histories of Immigrant Seniors:
An intergenerational, community action research approach to supporting language-accessible healthcare for immigrant seniors in Vancouver
Project Lead: Amanda Cheong, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, UBC
For immigrant seniors, language constitutes a major barrier to accessing healthcare in Canada. Through a community-based collaboration with Yarrow International Society for Justice, we seek to bring together stakeholders from UBC and civil society to: 1) map the current landscape of both scholarly and community-based work being done on the issue of immigrant seniors’ healthcare access in Vancouver; 2) identify gaps in knowledge on behalf of both scholars and practitioners regarding this issue; and 3) explore opportunities for future community action research collaborations between UBC and community organizations serving immigrant seniors to fill in these gaps in knowledge.
Due to the ongoing challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, we seek to explore innovative, creative, sustainable, and accessible modes of knowledge creation and dissemination. In line with the IHRC’s commitment to documenting the past, as well as reconciling past and present, our project will emphasize the value and importance of intergenerational and intercultural collaboration that is guided by a decolonizing approach. Findings from this collaboration will complement Yarrow’s ongoing advocacy efforts around creating more language-accessible healthcare systems in Vancouver.
Detail from a workshop for seniors organized by Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice.