Borserio, Bernard (2013) Perception of Ageing and Well-being in Older Immigrants: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, increased life expectancy and lowered birth rate of Australians is leading to a demographic shift towards an older population. Due to the post-WWII period of particularly high birth rates, known as the Baby Boom, this demographic shift is expected to occur suddenly, rather than gradually. This shift increases the importance of offering effective services to elderly members of society, and therefore of studies investigating factors relating to the wellbeing of elderly people. Australia is also a country with high rates of immigration, and the number of migrant people aged 65 living in Australia is projected to reach just fewer than one million people by 2026. As such, this study aimed to implement a qualitative method in further understanding the way in which elderly Australian immigrants interpret their experience of ageing, and their perceptions of happiness and well-being. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis developed by Jonathan Smith (Smith & Osborn, 2003) was used to interpret semi-structured interviews held with four participants who had immigrated to Australia and were aged over 65 years. Three major superordinate themes emerged from the analysis. The first was titled Factors Affecting Sense of Happiness and Satisfaction in Older Age, which involved participants’ experiences of age-related decline, social involvement and contribution to society as well as themes of assessing happiness, having insight, personality attributes and perceptions of social issues. The second was titled Current and Lifetime Importance of Spouse and Family. The third emergent superordinate theme was Culture, Immigration and Identity, and included participants experience and perceptions of immigration, original culture, identity and acceptance.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology, Counselling and Community (1 Jul 2013 - 31 Dec 2014) |
| Supervisors: | Jan du Preez |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Oct 2025 00:19 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Oct 2025 00:19 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Ageing, Well-being, Older Adults, Immigration, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52168 |
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