Late‐life living and care arrangements of older Filipino New Zealanders

Aims and objectives To explore the living and care arrangement plans of older Filipino immigrants in New Zealand. Background New Zealand is rapidly becoming the host to an increasing number of ageing Filipino immigrants. Despite this sizeable population growth of ageing Filipinos in New Zealand, still very little is known about this ethnic group's care needs and living arrangement preferences in later life within the New Zealand context. Design Qualitative descriptive approach. Methods Data were collected from 15 older Filipinos who participated in face‐to‐face interviews. Data were analysed using a thematic analytical framework. Results Two major themes were identified from the data analysis. The first theme “preferred living and care arrangements” is about older Filipinos’ preferred plans for future residence and in receiving care when no longer able to function independently in their own homes. The second theme “negotiating readiness and acceptance” is about hypothetical situations that older Filipinos described and anticipated that will greatly facilitate their readiness and acceptance to living in aged care facilities. Conclusion The study results have implications for service delivery within the New Zealand residential aged care sector. Due to an increasing number of older Filipino immigrants requiring care, residential aged care facilities must ensure their care models meet the needs of this growing group of older people. Relevance to clinical practice Nursing staff skill sets in the aged care sector require sensitivity to older immigrants’ health needs without compromising cultural beliefs and practices while living in residential aged care facilities.