Aging in the Asian-American Community:

An Bibliographic Essay on Websites and other Resources^[1]

by

Mon Yin Lung

                                                                             

 

1.                  Introduction

 

A.        Scope of this bibliography

 

Asian Americans, by definition, are Americans with Asian origin. The term Asian, however, is as broad as can be.  No doubt that China, India, Japan, Koreas, Malaysia, and their immediate neighbors are Asian countries.  But so are Afghanistan, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, and many others.  The difference between many of these Asian cultures can be as great as, if not greater than, the difference between an Asian and an European ones.  In order to review Asian Americans as a group, it is necessary to first set up an artificial scope.  Governmental units such as Census Bureau and Immigration and Naturalization Service generally employ a category  called AAsian and Pacific Islander Americans@ to lump together many groups from many cultures.  This bibliography will zero in on the people with their origin from countries east of Afghanistan, including Pakistan, India, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, China, Japan, and the two Koreas.  In other words, the scope of this bibliography is limited to East and Southeast Asian Americans.  Eastern and Southeastern Asian countries more or less bear some similarities culturally and politically, and were generally influenced by Chinese and Asian Indian cultures during their formation.  The Asian Americans with Middle Eastern origins and their cultural root deep in Islamic or Judaic culture will be the subject of another research. 

 

The goal of this bibliography is to provide a list of background reading material and websites suitable for serving senior Asian Americans.  Because many senior Asian Americans are the first generation immigrants and have limited English/computer proficiency, this bibliography is meant for their advocates, caretakers and families as well.  The list background readings is for general information and not scholarly purpose.  While there are numbers of organizations, those with websites provides information and access at the readers= conveniences with almost no cost and are chosen for their practical nature.

 

2.                  Basic Information on Asian-Americans

 

History of Asian American can be found in books and other forms of  material in many libraries.  For a quick online reference, check out Comptons Home Library (encyclopedia) at

 

 http://www.comptons.com/encyclopedia/ then using AAsian Americans@ as search key. 

 

The result article provides an excellent article on the general status of Asian Americans.  Although not specifically for elderlies, it is comprehensive and non-stereotypical with strategically positioned links to closely related topics, to help understanding the history and formation of the Asian Americans and the traditions which transcend the continents and the generations.  The exact article can also be found at Britannica Intermediate, but on that site it lacks of many links the Comptons site provides.

 

Comparing with works on African Americans and Hispanic Americans, works on Asian Americans are few.  For the purpose of quick reference, the following items can be handy.  Portraying a culture, however, never can be completely accurate, let along portraying a multi-cultural group.  Readers should always bear in mind that such works hardly can be free of being superficial, stereotypical, and oversimplifying.  The information found in these works at the best can be considered a quick sketch of different Asian American groups and a spring board for further understanding.  Furthermore, each person is an individual with an unique background, personality, and personal needs.  Generalization and stereotyping should be avoided with the greatest effort.    

 

SYBIL M. LASSITER, CULTURES OF COLOR IN AMERICA: A GUIDE TO FAMILY, RELIGION, AND HEALTH [67]-114 (Greenwood Press 1998).

This title devotes a section to various Asian Americans which include people of Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, Korean, and Vietnamese origins.  Under each category it provides information on topics such as family (subdivided by traditional, modern, elderly, socialization pattern), religious beliefs and practices, health practices, nutritional patterns, common diseases, and beliefs about death and dying.

 

VINCENT N. PARRILLO, STRANGERS TO THESE SHORES: RACE AND ETHNICS RELATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES 270-320 (6^th ed. Allyn & Bacon 2000).

A very reputable work of its kind, the best part of this title is that it provides an brief but excellent description including the historical background and the unique problems each ethnic group has to face.  It is a title to keep as a reference work not only for studying on Asian Americans but also on other race/ethnic groups.

 

C.        Seniors Asian-American

 

There are several categories of senior Asian Americans: those born and grew up in the United States, those immigrated to this country in their youth, and those immigrated to this country to follow their children in their older years.  Most seniors in the first two categories, because of free of language and cultural barriers, can rely on general elder services.  Those who belong to the last category are the ones that have special needs.  Generally they share the same characteristics: they are immigrants, they have limited ability in English, and they live with or close to their children (or at least one child).   In different Asian societies generations tend to live under one roof or within a throw of a stone.  The clan mentality is very strong.  Seniors, especially male, are considered the head of the clan and well respected or even feared.  When these old folks migrated to the United States, regardless their financial status, they would first try to keep up with the same intergeneration co-residence practice.  Then they gradually experience the lost of independence and their former social status.  In general they have to face the following dilemma:

*          Language and cultural barrier:  the elderly cannot communicate easily within the family (many grandchildren speak English only) and without.  The younger generations would make decisions without consulting them, a standard practice in the old country.  The worst part comes when they need to seek medical care but cannot express themselves to the health care providers.

*          Lack of mobility:  In most part of this country it takes a driver to get around.  These seniors do not drive and cannot learn to drive.  In addition to the inconvenience they have to suffer, many of them share the feeling of being in prison. 

*          Experiencing insolation, loneliness and inadequacy: Lack of social life and dependence on the younger family members (most of them also work outsides of home and raising their own children thus having very little time for the elderly) force the senior to feel that they are not valued anymore.

*          Lost of family harmony: It is quite a common situation that a senior cannot get along with their children=s spouses.  When this happens usually the senior will leave the children=s home and try to live in some type of senior housing on his own, with all the language and cultural barrier and isolation. 

*          Lost of financial security: Many seniors depend on the financial help from their children, or they signed off their assets to their children before or upon arrival in this country in order to be qualified for medicaid or other form of social welfare.  Once this happened a senior will have to follow decisions and arrangement made by their children and the children=s spouses^[2]. 

*          Lack of adequate facilities for Asian American senior even in a area with a large Asian-American population.  This is evidential in Washington, D.C. area.  In D.C. area (including Baltimore) the senior Jewish population is about 30,000 serving by more than 30 nursing homes and senior housing co-ops.  In the same area the 10,000 Chinese Americans senior are served by two senior housing facilities: Wah Lock House at D.C. Chinatown and CAREN Co-op at Adelphi, Maryland.^[3]

                       

The following two items provide a sketch to senior Asian American in this country:

 

NEEDS AND POTENTIALITIES ASSESSMENT OF ASIAN-AMERICAN ELDERLY IN GREATER PHILADELPHIA.  1977.

This study concludes that, among other needs,  the needs for Asian American senior center and awareness of all services to senior citizens are most urgent.

 

TING-MAY LIAO, INTERGENERATIONAL CORESIDENCE AMONG ASIAN-AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS.  (IOWA State University 1999)

In this thesis the author studied the intergeneration co-residence arrangement  among Asian Americans, its cultural roots, its general arrangement, and its affects.  Then the author gives recognition to many problems mentioned above in this bibliography.

 

American Psychological Association Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic, Linguistic, and Culturally Diverse Populations at

http://www.apa.org/pi/guide.html

The Guidelines represent general principles that are designed to provide suggestions to psychologists in working with ethnic, linguistic, and culturally diverse populations.  The general nature of these guidelines is suitable for lawyers, social workers, government employees and other people who work with aging Asian Americans.

 

Prepared by Andrew E. Scharlach, Esme Fuller-Thomson, and B. Josea Kramer, University of California at Berkeley School of Social Welfare, published on the web as a curriculum module is:

            Curriculum Module on Aging and Ethnicity at

http://garnet.berkeley.edu/~aging/ModuleMinority1.html

This curriculum module provides a basic introduction to information regarding minority elderly in the United States.  It was designed to provide instructors with accurate information that can easily be integrated into existing undergraduate and graduate-level courses, including courses in social welfare, public health, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and minority studies.  But it is also suitable for general reading.  Asian/Pacific Islanders is one of the four groups it includes, and under this heading come Chinese American, Japanese American, Filipino American, and Southeast Asian American.  Each group starts with an overview which is followed by sections on economic status, education, etc.  These sections are accompanied by a reference list, an annotated bibliography of suggested readings, a list of available audiovisual materials, as well as an in-depth interview with a selected expert regarding the particular racial or ethnic group.  The interviews address issues such as the unique characteristics of the elderly in each minority group, the accuracy of popular stereotypes, the challenges faced by the current cohort of older ethnic minority adults.

D.        Seniors and the Asian American Community: Statistical Data

 

To obtain some idea how Asian Americans as a group stands among other Americans with different ethnic background, one can take a look at numerous federal statistics provided by different federal agencies.  One of best place to look is the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging‑Related Statistics.  It recently published a report, titled:

Older Americans 2000: Key Indicators of Well‑Being  http://www.agingstats.gov/chartbook2000/default.htm

The Federal Interagency Forum on Aging‑Related Statistics was established in 1986 to foster collaboration among Federal agencies that produce or use statistical data on the older population.  The Forum=s mission is to encourage cooperation and collaboration among Federal agencies to improve the quality and utility of data on the aging population.  It does so by providing agencies with a venue to discuss data issues and concerns that cut across agency boundaries, facilitates the development of new databases, and improves mechanisms currently used to disseminate information on aging‑related data. Older Americans 2000: Key Indicators of Well‑Being was a report produced by the Forum to describe the overall status of the U.S. population age 65 and older.  It focuses on several important areas in the lives of older peopleCpopulation, economics, health status, health risks and behaviors, and health care.  Trying to present data in a nontechnical, user‑friendly format, the report includes 31 indicators that are divided into five sections:  Population, Economics, Health Status, Health Risks and Behaviors, and Health Care.  Data are broken down by mutually exclusive age groups (e.g., ages 65 to 74, 75 to 84, and age 85 and older) and ethnic groups whenever possible.  However, data availability and analytical relevance may affect the specific age groups that are included for an indicator.  For example, the first and second Supplements on Aging (see Data Source Descriptions section) collected data only on the population age 70 and older.  Because of small sample sizes in some surveys, statistically reliable data for the population age 85 and older often are not available.  Data from the population younger than age 65 sometimes are included if they help in the interpretation of the indicator.  Hispanic origin classification is provided when the data are available.  When racial groups are listed without the "non‑Hispanic" classification, both Hispanics and non‑Hispanics are included in those racial groups.  Data for racial groups that comprise a smaller proportion of the population (e.g., American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian and Pacific Islander) are included whenever sample sizes are large enough to allow reliable statistical estimates.  Data used to create each chart are provided in tables in Appendix A.  Various parts of the report are modified at different time to keep data current.  This is an excellent place to go for current official data on aging Asian Americans.

Another place for a quick glance is the Administration on Aging=s AOA Racial and Ethnic Composition at

 http://aoa.gov/aoa/stats/profile/default.htm#RacialEthnic

Data for this section were compiled from Internet releases of the U.S. Bureau of the Census, so for more information the Interagency Forum=s is a better location.

 

II          Websites and Information Useful to Senior Asian-Americans

 

A.        Legal grounds

 

The latest legal developments on the federal level can be found in:

Resources Relating to Elderly with Limited English Proficiency

http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov/network.html

This is a website run by the Administration of Aging, Department of Health and Human Services.  Currently it includes three legal items:

*          Executive Order: _Improving Access to Services for Persons With Limited English Proficiency [August 11, 2000];

*          Enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ‑‑ National Origin Discrimination Against Persons With Limited English Proficiency ("LEP Guidance") [Copy of Justice Department Document], issued by Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division; and

*          HHS_ Policy Guidance on the Prohibition Against National Origin Discrimination As It Affects Persons With Limited English Proficiency [PDF version] [August 30, 2000].

 

B.         Federal level governmental medical and research information

 

National Institute on Aging

http://nih.gov/nia/about/history.htm

The National Institute on Aging (NIA), one of the 25 institutes and centers of the National Institutes of Health provides leadership in aging research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs relevant to aging and older people.  Currently it is the primary federal agency on Alzheimer=s disease research.  Its mission is to improve the health and well‑being of older Americans through research, and specifically to support and conduct high quality research on aging processes, age‑related diseases, special problems and needs of the aged; to train and develop highly skilled research scientists; to develop and maintain state‑of‑the‑art resources to accelerate research progress; and to disseminate information and communicate with the public and interested groups on health and research advances and on new directions for research.  NIA sponsors research on aging through extramural and intramural programs.  One can locate data on senior Asian American throughout tables and other data on its website.

 

Office of Minority Health (OMH)

http://www.omhrc.gov/

Under the direction of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health, OMH advises the Secretary of Health and human Services and the Office of Public Health and Science on public health issues affecting all minorities. The mission of OMH is to improve the health of racial and ethnic populations through the development of effective health policies and programs that help to eliminate disparities in health.  It provides technical assistance, as requested, to minority community groups seeking to establish similar entities within their states.  It helps to ensure that Federal, State, and local health programs take into account the needs of disadvantaged and racial and ethnic populations, including their specific and cultural characteristics. OMH works with, and provides support to the Surgeon General and the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. OMH coordinates HHS' efforts to implement other selected White House Initiatives, and sponsors initiatives of its own. One of the current effects is the Asian American and Pacific Islander Action Agenda and the Asian Seniors Health Project, a grantee of the Office of Minority Health.  The Project is established as part of Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI), a community health center in San Jose, California.  It targets Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian individuals who are aged 55 years and older.  Services include mental health and nutrition counseling, health education seminars, and screenings to test for diabetes and hypertension.  The OMH Web site can be browsed for information on minority health issues, funding opportunities, conferences, legislative action in Congress, publications, useful information links, and other information.

 

OMH also publishes a newsletter, Closing the Gap, which reports on Federal, State, and community‑based activities related to minority health. Each newsletter covers a different health topic.  Oftentimes there are comprehensive articles on topics related to senior Asian American.  Following is an example: 

Closing the Gap, May/June 1996 issue Aging

http://www.omhrc.gov/OMH/sidebar/archivedctg.htm#6

This issue includes the following articles: Asians Among those at High Risk for Osteoporosis, and Health and Older Minorities: An OMH‑funded project serves elderly Asian Americans.

 

Administration on Aging (AoA)

 http://aoa.gov/default.htm                    

The Older Americans Act established the Administration on Aging (AoA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  It is headed by the Assistant Secretary for Aging.  AoA seeks to inform older people and their caregivers about the benefits and services available to them; to plan, coordinate, and develop community‑level systems of services that meet the unique needs of individual older persons and their caregivers.  It collaborates with federal agencies, national organizations, and representatives of business to ensure that, whenever possible, their programs and resources are targeted to the elderly and coordinated with those of the network on aging.  AoA administers key programs at the Federal level mandated under various titles of the Older Americans Act.  To keep up with the latest policy, program and grants available, checking out the AoA=s website is the most convenient way.  Lately it went through a facelifting in order to look approachable and user friendly.  With all the new links it surely is quite handy.

 

U.S. Education Dept. Office of Vocational and Adult Education

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/

 

This agency has awarded 12 grants from US Education Dept. totaling $6.9 million, over two years, to test ways of better combining instruction in English and civics for immigrants. (See agency news release at http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/05-2000/0510b.html.)  Grantees are in the states of California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The winners were selected through an extensive competitive process that generated nearly 170 applications.  One of the grantees is CLESE (see CLESE under II.D. for more information.)  Grant finances the project Bright Ideas: Providing Effective Ideas to Hard‑to‑Serve Clients, Chicago: This project presents a unique collaboration between CLESE a coalition of community‑based organizations serving ethnic groups and a  minority‑owned research and technical assistance firm specializing in hard‑to‑serve populations (Aguirre International)  The collaboration centers on training community teachers how to teach literacy and communication skills needed for self‑sufficiency, citizenship and civic engagement.

 

            C.        Assistance at State Level (samples)

 

Administration on Aging has a page including hyperlinks to individual state agencies on aging with URLs available at:

http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov/aoa/pages/state.html

 

Most states have websites to provide access to its services for their senior citizens.  Kansas is a example:

Kansas For Seniors

http://www.k4s.org

This is a website funded by private business but maintains links to government information.  It was compiled as a gateway for anyone seeking information about aging, seniors, services for seniors, legislation concerning aging or seniors, and advocacy for elders on the world wide web.  It links to Kansas Department on Aging, many area agencies on aging, local senior centers, and AARP Kansas.  It even provides some timely reminder such as taking flu shot in December. 

 

D.        Nation-wide Non-governmental Efforts

 

Asian Law Caucus

http://www.asianlawcaucus.org/

This organization is specialized in all legal issue concerning Asian Americans.  It established in 1996 the Senior Rights Projects to provide direct client services and community education to senior citizens in San Francisco.  The project also advocates for the rights of low-income Asian Pacific American seniors, runs a bi-weekly legal clinic at Self Help for the Elderly.  All these information can be found on the Senior Rights and S.E. Asian Outreach sections of its webpage.  Particularly useful are the programs run with translation for Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Lao, and Vietnamese clients. 

Information for immigrants

 

National Aisan Pacific American Legal Consortium

http://www.napalc.org/

The National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, was incorporated in 1991 with an office in Washington, D.C..  The Consortium is affiliated with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California in Los Angeles, Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York City.  One of its programs is a special page for both legal and illegal immigrant.  Its two pages  http://www.napalc.org/programs/immigration/index.html and http://napalc.org/links/index.html provide Internet links to other websites on immigration, affirmative action, hate crimes, language rights, voting rights and other areas concerning Asian-Americans. 

 

The National Asian Pacific Center on Aging

Http://www.napca.org

Established in 1979, NAPCA has the mission to serve as the leading national advocacy organization committed to the dignity, well‑being and quality of life of Asian Pacific Americans (APA) in their senior years.  Among its goals are: to advocate on behalf of the APA aging community at the local, state and national levels; to educate APA seniors and the general public on the unique needs of the APA aging community; and to empower APA seniors and the aging network to meet the increasing challenges facing the APA aging community.  It prides itself in Agiving APA seniors a seat at the table during a critical time when public policies are putting their dignity and quality of life at risk@.

Some of the programs run by NAPCA are:

a.         Senior Community Service Employment Program, funded by the U.S. Dept. of Labor as part of the national SCSEP (Senior Community Services Employment Program) under Title V of the Older Americans Act.  The program is to locate suitable host agencies and work sites; to recruit low‑income older persons(55 year old or older); to provide employment counseling, training and support services; and to help place the workers in suitable, permanent unsubsidized employment.

b.         The Senior Environmental Employee (SEE) program: through a grant process SEE enrollees (age 55 and over) work in various EPA offices around the country on  part‑time and full‑time assignments, depending on their interests and the particular needs of the requesting EPA office. Assignments range from general clerical and secretarial support to highly technical positions such as chemical engineers, public relations specialists, and environmental investigators.                       

c.         A Voice for Minority Elderly: this is a project seeking to empower minority elderly with an understanding of managed care and health related policies.

d.         Community Based Capacity Building Initiatives project is a national initiative directed at acquiring information and developing a community action plan for the unique social and health service needs of APA elders. Funded by the U.S. Administration on Aging, the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA) conducts a series of community meetings that culminate in community wide conferences in key urban areas where diverse sub‑populations of Asian Pacific Islander elders and their family caregivers live. APA seniors are solicited for feedback, in their native languages, on issues of greatest concern to them. The diversity and needs of API communities are provided to policy makers. A consensus on critical actions to better meet the needs of API elders is then used to develop action plans in each site. Participants include seniors, community leaders, service providers, elected officials, policy makers and the media.

e.         The Ask NAPCA column appears nationally in Chinese, Korean and Asian Indian newspapers.  In this column, NAPCA prints answers to questions submitted by readers concerning health and managed care. The questions and answers were previously published in the Ask NAPCA columns. Categories in this column included Medicare Part A & B, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, QMB,    Long‑term Care, Social Security Retirement Benefit, Social Security Disability Benefit, Medicare Managed Care Plan, Medicare vs. Medicaid, Non‑qualified,         Non‑insured, Other Insurance.  Languages used on this e-column: people can choose between English and Chinese.

f.          Under the What=s New column are the Medicare Help for Health booklets, which contain basic Medicare informational materials translated in 7 different API languages: Chinese, Khmer, Korean, Samoan, Tagalog, Tongan, and Vietnamese.  The files are in PDF format so no special software is needed.  The Medicare Help for Health information booklets are available in these areas: medicare health insurance, medicare benefits, medicaid and QMB, long term care, medicare and managed care organizations.  Better yet, these booklets are free.

Coalition of Limited English Speaking Elderly

Introduced on the web by aoa.dhhs at

                        http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov/Spotlight/default.htm

The Coalition of Limited English Speaking Elderly (CLESE) consists of more than 40 Chicago area organizations that provide advocacy, leadership and education to improve the lives of limited English speaking elderly. CLESE members provide supportive services, English and citizenship classes, health screenings, escort, and interpreting services to elderly immigrants, refugees and migrants from 24 different ethnic groups.

As a coalition, CLESE works to increase awareness of the needs, rights, and unique contributions of limited English speaking elderly and the community‑based organizations that serve them. CLESE promotes understanding, sensitivity, and insight into cultural variations, helping lift the barriers to fair and equitable access to services. These barriers may be a result of internal factors such as language, culture, isolation, citizenship status, or may include external reasons such as cultural insensitivity and anti‑immigrant attitudes. Barriers are removed by CLESE members taking coordinated action as a coalition.

CLESE coordinates an outreach and linkage program to screen elderly immigrants and refugees for service needs and eligibility for specific programs, and assists the ethnic agencies that serve them in applying for and administering publicly funded programs. These programs permit limited English speaking elderly to receive services through providers that speak their language and understand their culture.

CLESE cosponsored a Multicultural Senior Conference in April, 1999 in Chicago with the Seattle‑based National Asian Pacific Center on Aging, focusing on public policy issues impacting the lives of ethnic elderly. Jeanette C. Takamura, Assistant Secretary for Aging in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provided the keynote address on the many opportunities elderly have to contribute to society as keepers of their traditions, and the importance of passing them on to the younger generation.

Contact:  53 W. Jackson Blvd., Suite 1301, Chicago, IL 60604‑3702 Telephone: (312) 461‑0812 Fax: (312) 461‑1466, e‑mail: clese‑org@juno.com

 

E.         Community-based Activities

 

Asian American for Community Involvement

            http://www.scu.edu/SCU/Programs/Diversity/asamcomm.html

Based in San Jose, California, Asian Americans for Community Involvement is a nonprofit advocacy, education, health and human services organization concerned with the welfare of Asian Pacific Americans.  They serves over 45,000 clients in Santa Clara Valley, most of which are low‑income Asian refugees and Southeast Asian refugees. The missions of Asian Americans for Community Involvement are:  to advocate for equal rights and opportunities for Asian Pacific Americans; to provide human services that are language accessible and culturally appropriate; and to promote the history, culture and concerns of Asian Pacific Americans and understanding between all ethnic and racial communities.  They provide referrals and information from a database of over 300 local service agencies in 20 Asian languages as well as English. AACI also has a multilingual library with books and periodicals in English and major Asian languages.

The staff at AACI speaks a wide variety of Asian languages as well as Spanish, and is made up of a number of professionals and paraprofessionals including physicians, teachers, social workers, counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, juvenile justice and recreation specialists.                                   

           AACI=s senior programs include:

*          Senior Program:  assists Asians age 59 and older to maintain independent lifestyles and well‑being through counseling, ESL and citizenship classes, social and recreational activities, field trips, nutritional lunches as well as many other services.

*          Senior Health Project:  promotes healthy practices among Asian seniors who many times have difficulty accessing the health care system.  This program provides health screening, lectures, classes and support groups.

 

Asiaxpress.com, a private company maintains a website at:

http://www.asiaxpress.com/

This site cover the Denver area Asian American community news from various sources such as Asian Chamber of Commerce.   It also has international coverage.  One of its features is a page on senior Asian American in the area:

http://www.asiaxpress.com/asian_e_y/elders.htm

            Featuring articles and editorials provided by the elders from different ethnic communites.  Its main section also has a lot of information useful to senior Asian American as a member of the community.             

 

City & County of San Francisco Commission on the Aging

http://muni.sfgov.org/coaging/index.htm

The Commission on the Aging (COA) is the area agency on aging for the City and County of San Francisco which is specifically charged with planning, coordinating and providing community‑based services for the elderly.

*          Senior Services

http://muni.sfgov.org/coaging/nutri.htm

This is a  list of community centers providing senior services.  It is compiled by the San Francisco Commission on the Aging, Senior Information and Referral with the intent of providing resource information, aiming to be as inclusive as possible.  In addition to various programs, some senior centers indicate the special group of seniors they served and the ethnic meals they provide. 

*          Related Links

http://muni.sfgov.org/coaging/links.htm

This is a list of informational links to other websites for senior services ranging from federal programs, health issues, long term care to legal database specialized for senior.

 

Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging

Http://www.tcaging.org/index.htm

The Metropolitan Area Agency's role in the community includes: Planning, developing, and providing local organizations with resources for meals on wheels, door‑to‑door transportation, chores, senior dining, access services for non‑ English speaking elders and elders from the African American, Asian American, American Indian and Hispanic communities.

 

III.       American-published American newspapers in Asian Languages (samples)

For elderly folks who speak limited English, to read a newspaper in their own languages is a great enjoyment, and the information thus gathered could be invaluable.  There are quite a few minority newspapers published in various Asian languages, but not very many of them are available on line.  Here are just few examples: 

 

The China Press (in Chinese) at

www.thechinapress.com

This is a news site in simplified Chinese characters with home base in New York City.   It covers Asian-American activities but occasionally is the only source on the Internet reporting on senior Asian-American activities^[4]   

 

Chinese Yahoo!, the sister online service of Yahoo! Can be accessed at           

http://chinese.yahoo.com

This site has the same function as the original Yahoo site, only it is in Chinese and can be switched back and forth between the traditional and simplified Chinese characters.  It provides multiple links to Chinese newspapers in any one region, including the United States.  It certainly is a very good news source for and on senior Chinese-Americans.

 

Seattle Chinese Post (in Chinese^[5]) and Northest Asian Weekly (in English)

http://www.nwasianweekly.com/chinese.html (Chinese)

            http://www.nwasianweekly.com/ehome8.htm (English)

                        With over 10,000 readers, the Seattle Chinese Post offers international and local news in Chinese to immigrants. Its sister publication, the Northwest Asian Weekly, delivers news in English to citizens and other immigrants. The locally‑owned paper has served the Asian community for over 18 years.

 

IV.       Going Back to the Old Country B Senior Asian-Americans Living Abroad

 

Many seniors immigrants would like to move back to their original country for retirement.  After all in their original country they will no longer have language barrier, the food will be familiar, and the cost of living, with Japan the exception, can be considerably lower.  Yet there are issues to be considered.

 

A.        Legal and general issues

 

AARP (formerly American Association of Retired Persons) has an excellent website specifically for American citizens considering to spend their retirement abroad:

http://www.aarp.org/intl/serve.htm

To an elderly American residing oversea, the most important issue is to receive social security continuously.  This website discusses this issue in detail in conjunction  with possible employment in a foreign country, filing tax, handling pension, and change of citizenship.  It also has several links to sites on moving abroad and medical care abroad.

 

B.         Websites/addresses in different countries on senior living           

 

Again, AARP offers websites on oversea organizations for seniors, political parties and magazine around the world are quite informing as well as interesting.  Simply click at the country at

http://www.aarp.org/intl/orgs.htm

and follow the link.  Many countries and local governments each has its own website on legal issues and services for seniors.  These services may be limited to their own citizens.  Best is to check out a country=s law on nationality.  Some would and some do not accept dual nationality so an American citizen may have to give up his/her citizenship in order to be reaccepted by his/her country of origin.

 

 

 

Notes