“You Should Rely On Your Own Strengths”: Coping Mechanisms and Resilience Among Older Immigrants During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract Older immigrants occupy intersecting social positions shaped by aging and migration, influencing their experiences and coping during crises. This qualitative study examines how structural barriers and personal resources shape older immigrants' coping experiences, and contributes to understanding resilience and vulnerability within immigrant communities. Drawing on ideas from an intersectional life course perspective, the study is based on in-depth interviews with 21 older immigrants from the Former Soviet Union who experienced the COVID-19 crisis in Israel after migrating in midlife and aging in place. Thematic analysis identified three main categories: coping strategies, tensions between independence and receiving assistance, and personal and cultural resources. Participants often combined disciplined adherence to public-health guidelines with proactive self-management, while expressing ambivalence toward formal assistance and muted expressions of vulnerability despite heightened risk. The findings illustrate how life-course resources and culturally shaped norms of self-reliance inform later-life coping. The study also highlights implications for culturally sensitive policies and practices that improve access to information and services in immigrants’ native language, and promote respectful facilitation of assistance while recognizing older immigrants’ strengths and agency.