Culturally familiar environment among immigrant Korean elders.
This study's purpose was to describe the concept of familiarity for immigrant Korean elders as expressed through clothing, objects, songs/music, foods, and associated feelings. A descriptive exploratory design with in-depth, face-to-face interviews was used. A convenience sample of 14 immigrant Korean elders, age 63 to 82 years, was recruited from a Korean senior apartment complex. Interviews were tape-recorded and then transcribed in Korean by the first author. Constant comparative analysis was used to derive eight themes related to feelings and practice associated with culturally familiar items: homesickness, comfort, pleasure, mixed feelings, attachment, pride, nostalgic practice, and essentiality. These findings about familiarity could be utilized with ethnic minority elders to enhance their sense of belonging and physical and psychological comfort.
Son
Gwi-Ryung
GR
University of Michigan, School of Nursing, Ann Arbor 48109, USA. grson@umich.edu
Kim
Hye-Ryoung
HR
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D004644:Emotions; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007723:Korea / Q000208:ethnology; D008132:Loneliness; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009769:Object Attachment; D014481:United States