Assessing factors in utilisation of health services and community aged care services by the Iranian elderly living in the Sydney metropolitan area

Abstract

Abstract As one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, Australia has a high proportion of minority communities. However, its ageing population, particularly within these ethnic minorities, faces a range of barriers or difficulties in gaining access to and using health and aged care services. This study aims to identify the acculturation factors that affect the health status of Iranian-born elderly immigrants to Australia and their utilisation of health and community aged care services. The results of this study will be of value to Iranian elders, their families, and Australian aged health care service providers. The findings could also contribute towards enriched multicultural policy and improved social fairness, access to services, and equity for the aged from different ethnic backgrounds. 302 Iranian migrants aged 65 years who had lived in the Sydney Metropolitan area for at least six months were surveyed via a written questionnaire, face-to-face interviews, and telephone interviews. The results were analysed using SPSS and then compared to the findings from a 1999 survey of NSW elderly. The results indicate that Iranian migrants suffer higher levels of psychological distress and are more limited in their physical functioning than the general population of older Australians. They are in greater need of assistance with activities of daily living, have a lower sense of wellbeing, and are far less likely to utilise aged care services. Iranian migrant who do not speak English at home experience these disadvantages to an even greater extent English language proficiency was the only acculturation factor found to affect whether Iranian elderly utilised health and community aged care services, while ability to engage in activities of daily living (ADL) was the only health variable associated with their utilisation of community supportive aged care services. This variable did not predict the use of community aged care services in the broader sample of NSW respondents. Since limited proficiency in English placed elderly Iranian migrants at greater health risk and impeded their access to necessary assistance, the findings suggest that they would clearly benefit from English classes and from access to health and community care services and information regarding these services in the Farsi language.