Adult Children's Experiences of Caring for Elderly Chinese Immigrant Parents Managing Chronic Illness: A Qualitative Study

Research on Chinese families documents the importance of the family in providing informal health support and caregiving to elderly members. This research was guided by a phenomenological approach using in-depth interviews with individuals (N=23) to explore the experiences of adult Chinese-Canadian children who assist their elderly immigrant parents manage their chronic illnesses. The results from this study suggest that the experiences of caregivers who are Chinese are not necessarily different from those who are not Chinese; yet, Chinese identity was used by participants to frame their descriptions of their experiences. The Power Resonance Framework was developed to represent the dynamic nature of the relationships between patients, caregivers and healthcare providers. Finally, using vignettes developed from participant narratives, current conceptualizations of cultural competency among healthcare providers can be explored and critiqued. Many of the adult children in this study struggled with the dual roles of child and lay healthcare provider, referencing what they perceived as cultural norms to explain the conflict they experienced.Ph