Covering health: healthworlds of first-generation Chinese immigrants in Boston Chinatown

Abstract

This study examines the healthworlds of first-generation Chinese immigrants in Boston's Chinatown. Through participant observation and interviews conducted within a local church and a local park community, three key issues emerged: how the space of Chinatown influences people's post-immigration healthworlds; the dynamics of community health supports and health challenges; and the daily health lives of these immigrant individuals within their respective families. Likewise, complex understandings of health coverage emerge that include not only health insurance, but also social forms of insurance. Community integration becomes not only a cultural tradition, but also how health resources and health support are linked and provided. This social form of insurance makes it possible for community members to reach out cultural and religious health resources and support in the context of everyday life.