IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i11p5918-d1153297.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Self-Reported Cognitive Aging and Well-Being among Older Middle Eastern/Arab American Immigrants during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Linda Sayed

    (James Madison College, Michigan State University, 842 Chestnut Rd, East Lansing, MI 48825, USA)

  • Mohammed Alanazi

    (College of Nursing, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48825, USA
    Department of Nursing, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Bisha, Bisha 67714, Saudi Arabia)

  • Kristine J. Ajrouch

    (Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197, USA
    Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA)

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic posed new challenges for cognitive aging since it brought interruptions in family relations for older adults in immigrant communities. This study examines the consequences of COVID-19 for the familial and social support systems of aging Middle Eastern/Arab immigrants in Michigan, the largest concentration in the United States. We conducted six focus groups with 45 participants aged 60 and older to explore participant descriptions of changes and difficulties faced during the pandemic relating to their cognitive health, familial and social support systems, and medical care. The findings indicate challenges around social distancing for older Middle Eastern/Arab American immigrants, which generated three overarching themes: fear, mental health, and social relationships. These themes provide unique insights into the lived experiences of older Middle Eastern/Arab American adults during the pandemic and bring to light culturally embedded risks to cognitive health and well-being. A focus on the well-being of older Middle Eastern/Arab American immigrants during COVID-19 advances understanding of how environmental contexts inform immigrant health disparities and the sociocultural factors that shape minority aging.

Suggested Citation

  • Linda Sayed & Mohammed Alanazi & Kristine J. Ajrouch, 2023. "Self-Reported Cognitive Aging and Well-Being among Older Middle Eastern/Arab American Immigrants during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-13, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:11:p:5918-:d:1153297
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/11/5918/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/11/5918/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Taiji Noguchi & Ippei Nojima & Tomoe Inoue-Hirakawa & Hideshi Sugiura, 2019. "The Association between Social Support Sources and Cognitive Function among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A One-Year Prospective Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-9, October.
    2. Carla Teixeira & José Vasconcelos-Raposo & Helder Fernandes & Robert Brustad, 2013. "Physical Activity, Depression and Anxiety Among the Elderly," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 307-318, August.
    3. Eva Clark & Karla Fredricks & Laila Woc-Colburn & Maria Elena Bottazzi & Jill Weatherhead, 2020. "Disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on immigrant communities in the United States," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(7), pages 1-9, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hong, Joo Young & Choi, Shinwoo & Cheatham, Gregory A., 2021. "Parental stress of Korean immigrants in the U.S.: Meeting Child and Youth’s educational needs amid the COVID-19 pandemic," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    2. Kimberly M. Horner & Elizabeth Wrigley-Field & Jonathon P. Leider, 2022. "A First Look: Disparities in COVID-19 Mortality Among US-Born and Foreign-Born Minnesota Residents," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(2), pages 465-478, April.
    3. Young, Maria-Elena De Trinidad & Perez-Lua, Fabiola & Sarnoff, Hannah & Plancarte, Vivianna & Goldman-Mellor, Sidra & Payán, Denise Diaz, 2022. "Working around safety net exclusions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study of rural Latinx immigrants," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
    4. Doua Ahmed & Pierina Benavente & Esperanza Diaz, 2023. "Food Insecurity among International Migrants during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-14, March.
    5. Thomas B. Foster & Leticia Fernandez & Sonya R. Porter & Nikolas Pharris-Ciurej, 2022. "Age, Sex, and Racial/Ethnic Disparities and Temporal-Spatial Variation in Excess All-Cause Mortality During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Linked Administrative and Census Bureau Data," Working Papers 22-18, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    6. Katarzyna Przybyła & Maria Hełdak & Izabela Kurtyka-Marcak, 2019. "Demand for a Housing Offer Addressed to Senior Citizens in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-17, November.
    7. Ahra Oh & Jiyoun Kim & Eunsurk Yi & Jongseob Shin, 2020. "Verification of the Mediating Effect of Social Support on Physical Activity and Aging Anxiety of Korean Pre-Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-14, November.
    8. Shabnam Iezadi & Kamal Gholipour & Saber Azami-Aghdash & Akbar Ghiasi & Aziz Rezapour & Hamid Pourasghari & Fariba Pashazadeh, 2021. "Effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical public health interventions against COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-19, November.
    9. Maffly-Kipp, Joseph & Eisenbeck, Nikolett & Carreno, David F. & Hicks, Joshua, 2021. "Mental health inequalities increase as a function of COVID-19 pandemic severity levels," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    10. Berta, P. & Bratti, M. & Fiorio, C.V. & Pisoni, E. & Verzillo, S., 2021. "Administrative border effects in Covid-19 related mortality," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 21/21, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    11. Liang Shen & Xiangli Gu & Tao Zhang & Joonyoung Lee, 2022. "Adolescents’ Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms: A Psychosocial Mechanism," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-9, January.
    12. Amanda S. Gilbert & Jason Jabbari & Racquel Hernández, 2022. "How Do Perceived Changes in Child and Adolescent Activities Relate to Perceptions of Health during COVID-19? Exploring Heterogeneity during the Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-17, September.
    13. Hodges, James C. & Calvo, Rocío, 2023. "Teleservices use among Latinx immigrant families during the Covid-19 pandemic," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    14. Muhammad Hassan Bin Afzal, 2021. "An Empirical Analysis of how Internet Access Influences Public Opinion towards Undocumented Immigrants and Unaccompanied Children," Papers 2110.07489, arXiv.org.
    15. Tankut Atuk & Susan L Craddock, 2023. "Social pathologies and urban pathogenicity: Moving towards better pandemic futures," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(9), pages 1668-1689, July.
    16. Leticia Priebe Rocha & Raviv Rose & Annmarie Hoch & Cristiane Soares & Adriana Fernandes & Heloisa Galvão & Jennifer D. Allen, 2021. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Brazilian Immigrant Community in the U.S: Results from a Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-15, March.
    17. Uliana Kostareva & Cheryl L. Albright & Eva-Maria Berens & Patricia Polansky & Deborah E. Kadish & Luba L. Ivanov & Tetine L. Sentell, 2021. "A Multilingual Integrative Review of Health Literacy in Former Soviet Union, Russian-Speaking Immigrants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-18, January.
    18. Duncan, Whitney L. & Nabor Vazquez, Lupita, 2023. "‘I don't feel that we are a burden’: Latinx immigrants and deservingness during the COVID-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    19. Ricardo Pais & Luís Ruano & Carla Moreira & Sílvia Fraga & Ofélia P. Carvalho & Henrique Barros, 2021. "Social Support and Cognitive Impairment: Results from a Portuguese 4-Year Prospective Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-9, August.
    20. Rachel L. Peterson & Kristen M. George & Duyen Tran & Pallavi Malladi & Paola Gilsanz & Amy J. H. Kind & Rachel A. Whitmer & Lilah M. Besser & Oanh L. Meyer, 2021. "Operationalizing Social Environments in Cognitive Aging and Dementia Research: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-19, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:11:p:5918-:d:1153297. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.