Female Filipino Immigration Qualitative Study

This qualitative research study explores the experiences of elderly female Filipino immigrants. The research aims to provide a broader understanding of how immigrants adapt to life in America. The study intends to help ensure that the individual experiences of this under-researched group is heard and examined in-depth using the phenomenological methodology, which is exploratory in nature. | Eleven elderly female Filipino immigrants are the participants of the research, which uses face-to-face, semi-structured individual interviews. They are residents of the city of Vallejo in California, about 40 miles from San Francisco. In terms of characteristics, they are all widows, age 65 years or older, born in the Philippines, able to communicate
The results of this study may serve as an initial step in focusing attention on the mental health issues in this population so we can better understand the needs of elderly Filipino immigrants.A related goal of this study is to substantially increase the knowledge about elderly Filipino immigrants because currently, there is scant literature on this population. Furthermore, the results of this study can assist in developing culturally appropriate recommendations for policies and practices of mental health service-delivery systems to effectively meet the needs of elderly Filipino immigrants. By focusing on their stories, this study ultimately provides this population a voice that is rarely heard. Problem Background Over the last few decades, there has been a significant increase of Asian immigrants to the United States. Concurrent with these increases, the elderly population has also increased. The two most rapidly growing segments of the elderly population in the United States are Hispanics and Asians. This has been a result of immigration from Asian and Latin American countries, particularly the Philippines and Mexico. Immigration has had a major impact for immigrants and the host country. Immigrants face many challenges associated with new values,
Skilton-Sylvester (1998/99) further explains that elderly immigrants face more challenges in their new host country than their younger counterparts. Research studies on elderly Filipino immigrants are also conspicuously absent because much of the research has been based on the experiences of Chinese, Japanese and Korean people. It is therefore a misconception to assume that Filipinos share identical experiences with other Asian ethnic sub-groups because not all of these populations share identical experiences, histories or cultural practices. Besides, there exist within these subgroups variations in faith, immigration, language and experiences (Rodriguez, 2001).Research QuestionsThe fundamental research question is: What is the lived experience of elderly female Filipino immigrant in America? The study also asks the following research questions: 1. Why did they immigrate to this country? 2. What is their life story? 3. What is it like living in America? 4. What difficulties did they experience as new immigrants to this country? 5. What services, support systems or community resources do they utilize? 6. How do they cope with day-to-day challenges?METHODOLOGYRationale for Research Approach and Study DesignThe qualitative