Exploring African older immigrants' social connectedness in a digital age in Canada

This capstone is a mock research grant proposal for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Grant because African Older Immigrants (AOIs) are at high risk of social disconnectedness. They do not have an ethnic enclave that would supply the kinship network and face-to-face interactions. Therefore, to cope with the challenges of being socially disconnected, information technology is a viable approach to bridge these gaps. The study's main aim will be to identify the experiences of social disconnectedness and opportunities for improving access to social connections through technology. The study design will be Longitudinal Qualitative Research, which combines in-depth interviews and modified Delphi methods with AOIs and other stakeholders. The sample size will be 92 research participants, 76 AOIs, and 16 secondary stakeholders equally distributed across the four provinces. The research will develop an AOI social connectedness framework to improve the health and well-being of AOIs.