Acculturation and health behaviors among older Chinese immigrants in the United States: A qualitative descriptive study

Older immigrants tend to experience rapid deterioration in health after immigration. Changes in health behaviors over the course of acculturation are considered attributable factors. However, much remains unknown when it comes to acculturation experiences and health behaviors among older immigrants. This study explored acculturation in three domains (behavioral, cognitive, and identificational) and described how each domain of acculturation could influence various health behaviors among community-dwelling older Chinese immigrants in the United States. In this qualitative descriptive study, trained bilingual interviewers conducted in-depth individual interviews with 24 participants in the greater Los Angeles area. Acculturation experiences emerged from qualitative content analysis, such as high dependence on Chinese behavioral patterns and intraethnic networks and limited intergroup interactions (behavioral acculturation), strong maintenance of Chinese cultural values and some American cultural learning (cognitive acculturation), and strong identification with Chinese ethnicity (identificational acculturation). Behavioral acculturation and cognitive acculturation may influence various health behaviors, including eating/diet, exercise, chronic disease, and mental health management. By recognizing the unique acculturation experiences, interventions could be developed to promote healthy behaviors in achieving optimal health in this population.