Aging and immigration: Who are the elderly?

"The present article joins two generally separate streams of research, gerontologic and immigration research in the United States. The paper considers data from several studies of seniors in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1990s; the 'Black and White Caregivers' and the 'Use of Services of Black and White Elderly'. These are considered not in terms of their original research goals, but rather in terms of a reflective examination of assumptions regarding the identity of the elders and caregivers that framed the two studies." The authors conclude that identifying elderly people by race tends to conceal rather than clarify ethnic and cultural differences among this population.