“People Are still not receiving good care because of who they are” : An account of inequalities of elderly people from ethnic minorities in the UK

The UK is the home or second home of 18% of the total population (2021) from an ethnic minority background. For some of these population groups, migration occurred during the mid-twentieth century, and this means they now form part of the elderly population, which has led to a rapidly changing profile of the older UK population. Living in a culturally different country has also created challenges for the elderly ethnic population where cultural expectations around care are impacted by their family’s capacity to provide care and the availability (or not) of culturally appropriate services. Disparities among ethnic minorities across a range of social and healthcare outcomes are not new; however, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed inequalities like never before. In light of the above, this chapter explores the historical inequalities experienced by an ageing ethnic population and the social and economic factors which led to or contributed to these disparities and which are evidenced in the UK deprivation data. This chapter highlights some of the major changes in social policies and explores their related impact on elderly minority populations. Understanding the experience of inequalities by an ageing ethnic population is incomplete without also including the accounts of service providers and the challenges of providing services and support. Finally, this chapter presented how elderly ethnic minority people have negotiated (and continue to negotiate) an uncertain future in the UK as a resilient and resourceful community.

Citation

Kanjilal, M., Arnull, E. (2025). “People Are Still Not Receiving Good Care Because of Who They Are”. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Problems. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68127-2_474-1

Type

Chapter in book

Language

en

Description

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Palgrave MacMillan in The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Problems on 8 May 2024, available online: https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-68127-2_474-1 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version. For reuse permissions, see the publisher's website.

ISBN

9783030681272

Collections

Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing