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Support networks and life-course transitions of older migrants in Australia

Dr Hien Thi Nguyen’s postdoctoral research project explores the social support networks of older migrants in Australia. Many older people are affected by the international migration of their family members. While some older people stay in their home country, others migrate to join their migrant descendants, thus creating transnational grandparent migration.

The proliferation of communication and digital technologies and new media has enabled older people to participate in the transnational lives of their migrant family members, which leads to different types of support. However, little is known about the types of social support networks that are formed between older migrants and their social nodes. In addition, little is known about how social support networks can aid late life-course transitions of older migrants.

This postdoctoral research draws on two projects:

Growing older overseas: how older Vietnam-born people are experiencing ageing and aged care in Australia (Hien Thi Nguyen's PhD project); and

‘Transnational and Translocal Mobility: Intergenerational Family Decision Making, Migration Experiences, and Settlement of Migrant Grandparents in Australia and China’ (a sub-project of the 'Transnational Decentering Migration Knowledge' (DEMIKNOW) project, of which Hien is the project manager).

The postdoctoral research will explore the different social support networks used by older migrants and how these networks assist older migrants to adapt, integrate and establish a sense of belonging in the receiving society. In addition, the research will examine the roles of digital technologies and new media in forming and maintaining different types of social support networks in transnational contexts.

Project duration

April 2024 – March 2024

Related projects

DemiKnow

Researchers

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