Filipino Aging within Global North Diasporas: A Scoping Review

J Cross Cult Gerontol. 2023 Mar;38(1):39-81. doi: 10.1007/s10823-022-09466-y. Epub 2023 Jan 9.

Abstract

Drawing on international research, this article examines and navigates through the existing social gerontological and ethnogerontological literature to assess how Filipino aging is understood within Global North societies. A scoping review was conducted in 2018 and in 2022 to offer key insights into how Filipinos age in both the ancestral homeland and increasingly within Global North diasporas. While the existing literature on Filipino aging does mirror existing ethnogerontological literature, which heavily focuses on indicators of cognitive, physical and mental health, and access and provision to formal services, the Filipino-specific literature calls attention to emerging dynamics distinctly related to transnational aging, and renegotiated caring dynamics within intergenerational Filipino families and kinship networks. This paper considers a future research agenda of the growing realities for aging Filipino communities across Global North contexts.

Keywords: Aging; Filipino diaspora; Global North; Intergenerational Care; Transnationalism.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Aging*
  • Human Migration*
  • Humans
  • Mental Health
  • Southeast Asian People

Supplementary concepts

  • Filipino people