This article explores how elderly English-speaking Indian immigrant women living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada perceive and manage mental distress. With elders' consent, in-depth interviews were recorded, transcribed and transcripts were thematically analyzed. The findings suggest that these women believed that to lower the risk of mental distress it is critical for individuals to ‘maximize control over inner self’ by ‘being busy.’ The elder's busy behavior is framed within the Indian cultural and spiritual/faith matrix in dialogue with acculturation experiences in Canada. ‘Staying busy’ allows these elders to use culture as a ‘moral medicine’ to facilitate coping and adaptation. © 2007, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.

culture Coping strategy elderly Indian immigrant women Canada Mental distress

immigrant India Indian human immigration Health Behavior middle aged risk assessment mental stress coping behavior Aged Adaptation, Psychological Depressive Disorder religion qualitative research Humans Canada Emigrants and Immigrants female social psychiatry clinical article cultural factor Article thematic analysis adult self control distress syndrome elderly care health survey