Stories through the Camera - A Photovoice Community Health Assessment about the Impacts of Neighbourhood on Chinese Immigrant Older Adults' Health

A growing public health literature indicates that neighbourhood environment plays an important role in older adults’ health. However, investigation on neighbourhood health impacts on Chinese immigrant older adults – a growing socially marginalized population in Canada – is currently missing. This study helps to fill this gap by exploring the multiple dimensions on how neighbourhood environmental factors affect Chinese immigrant older adults’ different health aspects. The purpose of this study was to understand Chinese immigrant seniors’ perspectives on healthy and harmful spaces located within their immediate neighbourhood, and the accessibility of these spaces among Chinese older adults. A Photovoice research method was used with 6 Chinese immigrant older adults from a middle-class neighbourhood in Vancouver, Canada. Research findin gs showed that neighbourhood attributes related to the built physical environment, social environment, and public/community service environment affect Chinese older adults’ physical health, diet, mental health, social health, and mobility. This study highlighted the complex interactions between different aspects of neighbourhood factors and Chinese older adults’ agency in obtaining health-benefiting resources. Future studies need to expand the concept of individual health to better understand the different interactive pathways between neighbourhood environmental factors and other health aspects.