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Handbook of Sociology of Aging pp 103–116Cite as

Immigration, Aging, and Health in the United States

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Abstract

Given the rising numbers of immigrants to the United States, in recent decades there has been increasing interest in better understanding the health status and the health care needs of immigrants and how they impact the host societies’ health and social service systems. Recent evidence has suggested the existence of a health advantage among immigrants, especially those from non-western origins, which has challenged our previous and often stereotypical notions regarding immigrants from poor countries. Early research in North America was almost exclusively focused on the negative impact of immigration on mental health (Malzberg 1967). The negative aspects of immigration were also the dominant theme of early studies in Europe (Friis et al. 1998). It is now commonly assumed that early research was often culturally biased, methodologically weak, and based on small numbers of immigrants (Friis et al. 1998; Markides 2001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA

    Kyriakos S. Markides

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  1. Kyriakos S. Markides
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  2. Kerstin Gerst
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Correspondence to Kyriakos S. Markides .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, 97331-2302, Oregon, USA

    Richard A. Settersten

  2. Dept. Sociology, University of Texas, Austin, University Station 1, Austin, 78712, Texas, USA

    Jacqueline L. Angel

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Markides, K.S., Gerst, K. (2011). Immigration, Aging, and Health in the United States. In: Settersten, R., Angel, J. (eds) Handbook of Sociology of Aging. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7374-0_7

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