Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T11:18:57.416Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Experiences of ageing and aged care in Australia of older survivors of genocide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 November 2012

KAREN TESHUVA  and
YVONNE WELLS
KAREN TESHUVA*
Affiliation:
Australian Institute for Primary Care & Ageing, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
YVONNE WELLS
Affiliation:
Australian Institute for Primary Care & Ageing, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
*
Address for correspondence: Karen Teshuva, Australian Institute for Primary Care & Ageing, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Victoria 3086, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This qualitative study investigated the ageing and aged care experiences in Australia of two cohorts of older survivors of genocide: Jewish Holocaust survivors and older Cambodian genocide survivors. It was carried out in response to an identified need to better train aged care workers who are in contact with these groups. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 community-dwelling survivors aged 65 and over. Credibility was ensured by methodological triangulation and peer debriefing. The study highlighted the importance of understanding older survivors’ ageing and aged care experiences in the context of their entire lifecourse and in terms of both vulnerability and resilience. It showed that trauma history can heighten older survivors’ sensitivity to many aspects of the social and physical environments in residential, community and home-based aged care settings. The study also uncovered the potential for aged care services to help older survivors cope with the psycho-social and emotional effects of resurfacing post-traumatic stress symptoms. The implications of the study findings for care practice include the importance of recognising older survivors of genocide as a distinct group of clients and the need to distinguish staff training for caring for this client group from general cultural awareness training.

Keywords

genocidemass traumaHolocaust survivorsCambodian genocide survivorsresidential aged carehome and community aged care services
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 34 , Issue 3 , March 2014 , pp. 518 - 537
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, K. B., Mann, E. S., Prigal, R. W., Fein, A. and Souders, T. L. 1994. Holocaust survivors in a Jewish nursing home: building trust and enhancing personal control. Clinical Gerontologist, 14, 3, 99–117.Google Scholar
Amir, M. and Lev-Wiesel, R. 2003. Time does not heal all wounds: quality of life and psychological distress of people who survived the Holocaust as children 55 years later. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 16, 3, 295–9.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006. Census of Population and Housing. Available online at http://www.abs.gov.au/census [Accessed 30 March 2009].Google Scholar
Australian Government Productivity Commission 2011. Caring for Older Australians. Australian Government, Canberra.Google Scholar
Bartolomei, L., Hugman, R. and Pittaway, E. 2003. You Never Stop Being a Refugee. Sydney Centre for Refugee Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney.Google Scholar
Boehnlein, J. K. 1987. Clinical relevance of grief and mourning among Cambodian refugees. Social Science & Medicine, 25, 7, 765–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 2, 77–101.Google Scholar
Brodaty, H., Joffe, C., Luscombe, G. and Thompson, C. 2004. Vulnerability to post-traumatic stress disorder and psychological morbidity in aged holocaust survivors. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 19, 10, 968–79.Google Scholar
Brodsky, J., Sharon, A., King, Y., Be'er, S. and Shnoor, Y. 2010. Holocaust Survivors in Israel: Population Estimates, Demographic, Health and Social Characteristics, and Needs. Available online at http://brookdale.jdc.org.il/?CategoryID=192&ArticleID=161 [Accessed 8 December 2010].Google Scholar
Carlson, E. and Rosser-Hogan, R. 1993. Mental health status of Cambodian refugees ten years after leaving their homes. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 63, 2, 223–31.Google Scholar
Carstairs, L. 2004. Culturally sensitive care for elderly Holocaust survivors. If Not Now e-Journal, 5. Available online at www.baycrest.org [Accessed 4 February 2009].Google Scholar
Creswell, J. 2007. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. Second edition, Sage, Thousand Oaks, California.Google Scholar
Danieli, Y. 1997. As survivors age: an overview. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 30, 1, 9–26.Google Scholar
Dannefer, D. 2011. Age, the life course, and the sociological imagination: prospects for theory. In Binstock, R. and George, L. (eds), Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences. Seventh edition, 3–16, Elsevier, London.Google Scholar
David, P. 2008. The last chapter: a phenomenological study of aging Holocaust survivors’ views on their own dying and death. University of Toronto. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. PhD Thesis. Available online at http://o-www.alpha2.latrobe.edu.au/docview/304358784?accountid=12001.Google Scholar
David, P. and Pelly, S. (eds) 2003. Caring for Aging Holocaust Survivors: A Practice Manual. Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto.Google Scholar
Downs, K., Bernstein, J. and Marchese, T. 1997. Provding culturally competent primary care for immigrant and refugee women: a Cambodian case study. Journal of Nurse-Midwifery, 42, 6, 499–508.Google Scholar
Ehrlich, M. A. 2004. Health professionals, Jewish religion and community structure in the service of the aging holocaust survivor. Archives of Gerontology & Geriatrics, 38, 3, 289–95.Google Scholar
Forum of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma 2006. Out of the Abyss: Australia's Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma. Available online at http://www.fasstt.org.au/downloads/outoftheabyss.pdf [Accessed 2006].Google Scholar
Gifford, S., Atwell, R. and Correa-Velez, I. 2007. Ageing out of place: health and well-being, needs and access to home and aged care services for recently arrived older refugees in Melbourne, Australia. Intenational Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, 3, 1, 4–14.Google Scholar
Herman, J. 1997. Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. Basic Books, New York.Google Scholar
Hinton, D. E., Pich, V., Chhean, D. and Pollack, M. H. 2005. ‘The ghost pushes you down’: sleep paralysis-type panic attacks in a Khmer refugee population. Transcultural Psychiatry, 42, 1, 46–77.Google Scholar
Hirschfeld, M. J. 1977. Care of the aging Holocaust survivor. American Journal of Nursing, 77, 7, 1187–9.Google Scholar
Hirst, S., LeNavenec, C. and Aldiabat, K. 2011. Conversations with Holocaust survivor residents. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 37, 3, 36–42.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, S., Hersch, G., Davidson, H., Yee-Mei Chu, A. and Mastel-Smith, B. 2011. Voices of elders: culture and person factors of residents admitted to long-term care facilities. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 22, 4, 397–404.Google Scholar
Joffe, C., Brodaty, H., Luscombe, G. and Ehrlich, F. 2003. The Sydney Holocaust study: posttraumatic stress disorder and other psychosocial morbidity in an aged community sample. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 16, 1, 39–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joffe, H., Joffe, C. and Brodaty, H. 1996. Ageing Jewish Holocaust survivors: anxieties in dealing with health professionals. Medical Journal of Australia, 165, 9, 517–20.Google Scholar
Kellermann, N. 2010. Holocaust Trauma: Psychological Effects and Treatment. iUniverse, Bloomington, Indiana.Google Scholar
Kinzie, J. D. 2001. Psychotherapy for massively traumatized refugees: the therapist variable. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 55, 4, 475–90.Google Scholar
Kitwood, T. 1997. Dementia Reconsidered: The Person Comes First. Open University Press, Buckingham, UK.Google Scholar
Letzter-Pouw, S. and Werner, P. 2003. Willingness to enter a nursing home: a comparison of Holocaust survivors with elderly people who did not experience the Holocaust. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 40, 4, 87–103.Google Scholar
Levine, J. 2001. Working with victims of persecution: lessons from Holocaust survivors. Social Work in Health Care, 46, 4, 350–60.Google Scholar
Lewis, D. 2009. Aging out of place: Cambodian refugee elders in the United States. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 37, 3, 376–93.Google Scholar
Lomranz, J. 2000. The skewed image of the Holocaust survivor and the vicissitudes of psychological research. Echoes of the Holocaust, 6, 45–57.Google Scholar
Lomranz, J. 2005. Amplified comment: the triangular relationship between the Holocaust, aging and narrative gerontology. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 60, 3, 255–67.Google Scholar
New South Wales Refugee Health Service 2006. Caring for Older Refugees in NSW: A Discussion Paper. Available online at http://www.sswahs.nsw.gov.au/sswahs/refugee/pdf/OlderRefugees.pdf [Accessed 23 July 2009].Google Scholar
Niederland, W. G. 1981. The survivor syndrome: further observations and dimensions. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 29, 2, 413–25.Google Scholar
Ornstein, A. 1981. Effects of the Holocaust on life-cycle experiences: the creation and recreation of families. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14, 2, 135–54.Google Scholar
Pirner, D. 2006. Life trajectory of elderly institutionalized Holocaust survivors: ethnographic study. University of Calgary, Canada. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. PhD Thesis. Available online at http://0-www.alpha2.latrobe.edu.au/docview/305359378?accountid=12001 [Accessed 28 June 2010].Google Scholar
Rosenbloom, M. 1985. The Holocaust survivor in late life. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 8, 3–4, 181–91.Google Scholar
Rutland, S. 2005. The Jews in Australia. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Sadavoy, J. 1997. Survivors: a review of the late-life effects of prior psychological trauma. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 5, 4, 287–301.Google Scholar
Savin, D. and Robinson, S. 2002. Holocaust survivors and survivors of the Cambodian tragedy: similarities and differences. If Not Now e-Journal. Available online at www.baycrest.org [Accessed 4 February 2009].Google Scholar
Shmotkin, D., Blumstein, T. and Modan, B. 2003. Tracing long-term effects of early trauma: a broad-scope view of holocaust survivors in late life. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 71, 2, 223–34.Google Scholar
Shour, A. 1990. Aging Holocaust survivor in the institution. Journal of Aging and Judaism, 4, 3, 141–60.Google Scholar
Sinder, A., Wellman, N. S. and Stier, O. B. 2004. Holocaust survivors report: long term effects on attitudes toward food. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour, 36, 4, 189–96.Google Scholar
Strauss, A. C. J. 1990. Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Sage, Newbury Park, California.Google Scholar
Strumpf, N., Glicksman, A., Goldberg-Glen, R., Fox, R. and Logue, E. 2001. Caregiver and elder experiences of Cambodian, Vietnamese, Soviet Jewish, and Ukrainian refugees. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 53, 3, 233–52.Google Scholar
Trappler, B., Braunstein, J. W., Moskowitz, G. and Friedman, S. 2002. Holocaust survivors in a primary care setting: fifty years later. Psychological Reports, 91, 2, 545–52.Google Scholar
Uehara, E. S., Farris, M., Morelli, P. T. and Ishisaka, A. 2001. ‘Eloquent chaos’ in the oral discourse of killing fields survivors: an exploration of atrocity and narrativization. Culture, Medicine & Psychiatry, 25, 1, 29–61.Google Scholar
Zilberfein, F. and Eskin, V. 1992. Helping Holocaust survivors with the impact of illness and hospitalization: social work role. Social Work in Health Care, 18, 1, 59–70.Google Scholar