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15 Elderly Chinese in Public Housing: Social Integration and Support in Metro Toronto Housing Company Morris Saldov and May-lin Poon By the year 2021 , the elderly Canadia n population i s expected t o exceed fiv e million i f presen t immigratio n level s an d mortalit y rate s ar e sustaine d (Secretary of State 1988).1 Th e largest ethnic group in Canada who are unable to speak either of Canada's two official language s is the Chines e (population : 100 185) . Elderly Chines e are expected t o lead the growth rate among ethni c elderly people between 199 1 and 2006, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver where the y ar e projecte d t o hav e th e highes t growt h rate s i n th e countr y (Multiculturalism an d Citizenship Canad a 1993) . China and Hong Kong have continued t o be among th e to p te n places of origin o f immigrants t o Canad a (Citizenship and Immigration Canad a 1999) . Toronto, in particular, has been the destinatio n fo r man y o f thes e immigrant s (Citizenshi p an d Immigratio n Canada 1999) . Since th e fastes t growt h rat e o f persons age d 6 5 o r ove r i s occurrin g i n non-white populations, particularly Asians,2 gerontolog y research in the fiel d of housing an d community service s needs to shift it s focus fro m comparativ e studies t o describin g an d analysin g individua l elderl y groups ' requirements . The service needs of ethno-cultural-racial minorities, such as those of elderly Chinese, requir e definitio n i n thei r ow n righ t an d no t necessaril y b y comparison wit h majority groups . Until th e 1990s , Canadia n an d U S researcher s ha d largel y ignore d th e housing and community services utilized by elderly Asians. This ethnic elderl y 222฀MORRIS ฀SALDOV฀AND฀MAY-LIN฀POON฀ population was under-represented i n the literature of ageing (Kramer, Barker and Damron-Rodrigue z 1991 ; Saldov and Cho w 1994) . Since then, however , there ha s bee n a growin g bod y o f literatur e assessin g th e suppor t need s o f elderly Asians. For example, Tsai and Lopez (1997 ) foun d tha t in California , families provide d th e mos t value d source s o f support , whil e languag e differences fro m publi c an d non-governmenta l servic e provider s an d a lac k of information abou t services were significant barriers to utilization by elderly Chinese immigrants . Famil y suppor t ha s als o bee n show n t o b e influence d by the spatial distance from th e children of the elderly living in seniors' public housing (Smit h 1998) . I n Hon g Kong , famil y suppor t i n Chines e familie s usually mean s car e b y th e daughter s o r daughters-in-la w (Nga n an d Won g 1995). Heuman n an d Bold y (1993 ) hav e develope d a holisti c mode l fo r assessing th e car e and suppor t need s o f low-income an d frai l elderl y 'agein g in place' in seniors' housing. They concluded tha t a continuum o f services is needed t o reflect th e diversity of the social, cultural and environmental need s of thi s population . Som e publi c housin g authoritie s hav e responde d t o thi s challenge of developing a continuum o f services by providing more integrate d and congruen t programme s whic h hel p low-incom e an d frai l senior s sta y i n their housin g (Suggs , Steven s an d Kive t 1986) . I n th e specia l cas e o f th e elderly Chinese , method s whic h reac h ou t t o thi s populatio n ar e needed . The Nationa l Asia n Pacifi c Cente r o n Agin g i n Seattl e (1995 ) ha s strongl y recommended culturall y and linguistically adapted community-based service s for elderl y Asians. New York City...

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