Abstract
Abstract
Introduction: In 2005 there was about 942 elder Vietnamese people living in Norway. Little is known is about this group of people. This brief study aims to give an insight on how elderly Vietnamese people are coping with the Norwegian way of life. We concentrated our questions in four areas: health care, socioeconomic status, illnesses and health believes.
Methods: We personally interviewed 21 women and 12 men age between 58 - 78 years old living in Oslo, Drammen and Kristiansand. The study showed after many years ( average stay was 16.5 years) in Norway elderly Vietnamese people still live after their cultural code and ethics. Do to their lack of Norway language skills they have very little contact with Norwegian people and therefore have very limited knowledge about the Norwegian society. They prefer to live their life as similar as they did in Vietnam. Their social life continues into their ethnic group and traditions. They still think it is correct that children should take care of their weak parents. This is why we see very few old Vietnamese people in nursing homes. Conclusion: Even though, they suffer from trauma of immigrations and problems with coping with growing old in Norway, many of them still do not want to return to Vietnam to spend their last days of their life. Almost all of them are satisfied with their life in Norway.