Immigrant women: making connections to community resources for support in family caregiving

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to understand how immigrant women caregivers accessed support from community resources and identify the barriers to this support. The study included 29 Chinese and South Asian women caring for an ill or disabled child or adult relative. All experienced barriers to accessing community services. Some possessed personal resources and strategies to overcome them; others remained isolated and unconnected. Family and friends facilitated connections, and a connection with one community service was often linked to several resources. Caregivers who failed to establish essential ties could not initiate access to resources, and community services lacked outreach mechanisms to identify them. These findings contribute new understanding of how immigrant women caregivers connect with community resources and confirm the impact of immigration on social networks and access to support.