Social Indicators Research
Volume 126, Issue 2, 2016, Pages 657-672

Social Inclusion and Health Conditions Among Chinese Immigrants in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom: An Exploratory Study (Article)

Chan K.* , Huxley P.J. , Chiu M.Y.-L. , Evans S. , Ma Y.
  • a Department of Communication Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong
  • b Centre for Mental Health and Society, Bangor University, Gwynedd, United Kingdom
  • c Department of Social Work, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
  • d School of Human Sciences, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom
  • e Department of Communication Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Abstract

Whether and how immigrants are included in the host society has become a hot topic in the context of globalization. How inclusive a society is for immigrants can be answered by comparing the inclusion of immigrants to near-culture host society and those to a different-culture society. This paper reports the social inclusion and their correlation with health conditions among Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Two non-probability sample surveys were conducted using the Social and Communities Opportunities Profile and its Chinese version as survey instruments. Altogether 56 new arrivals in Hong Kong and 51 immigrants in UK were recruited through NGOs to participate in face-to-face individual interviews. Both Hong Kong and UK participants reported high overall social inclusion. The two sub-samples shared many similarities in the perceived opportunities and satisfaction of opportunities in various social domains. There was evidence that immigrants in a host society with similar language demonstrated higher perceived satisfaction with opportunities in contact with friends and family, as well as higher perceived opportunities for community involvement than immigrants in a society with a different language. However, overall social inclusion appeared to be independent of one’s health conditions. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Author Keywords

Immigration policy discrimination Cross-cultural study Health conditions Need assessment

Index Keywords

United Kingdom immigration policy China health status Hong Kong Asian immigrant social inclusion cultural relations language local participation
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84957850282&doi=10.1007%2fs11205-015-0910-0&partnerID=40&md5=0596228c4610246b4a76c4b1ce682f02
DOI: 10.1007/s11205-015-0910-0
ISSN: 03038300
Cited by: 11
Original Language: English