On September 29th, BrightStar Care of Chicago and La Grange, Community Liaison, Linda Kunicki, attended a Chicago Bridge member event called “Older Adults and Immigration”. A panel presented their experience working with immigrant older adults in hospital and in community settings. Here is a synopsis of the topic and links to resources.
Fast Facts
- 20% of Chicago’s population was born outside of the United States
- 172,000 Older Adults in Illinois speak limited English
- 40,000 Mexican heritage
- 21,000 Polish heritage
- 11,000 Puerto Rican heritage
- 9,000 Chinese heritage
- 91,000 Mix of other nationalities and cultures all at least with 1,000 or more older adults
- Non-English speaking elderly are 2x more likely to live in poverty
- There are roughly 511,000 undocumented immigrants in Chicago
- Roughly $14 billion in taxes are filed by those who do not have Social Security numbers — this amount has been attributed to the contributions of undocumented immigrants through the use of a Individual Taxpayer Identification Number or ITIN
- 50%-60% of those left uninsured after the passage of the Affordable Care Act are undocumented immigrants
TIPS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICES WORKING WITH OLDER ADULTS AND IMMIGRANTS
http://www.thechicagobridge.org/in-case-you-missed-it-older-adults-immigration