Elder-care in north american ismā'ĪlĪ families: A preliminary inquiry.

The KhŌja Ismā'ĪlĪs, socially and geographically mobile NĪzarĪ ShĪ'Ītes who are followers of the Aga Khan, have migrated in recent years to many urban areas of North America from South and Central Asia and Africa. Numerous cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic factors are shaping the ways in which over 4,500 Ismā'ĪlĪ households come to grips with providing informal long-term care to aging parents. Case descriptions illustrate some immigrant KhŌja Ismā'ĪlĪ elder-care strategies, as well as the particular limiting and enabling considerations with which Ismā'ĪlĪ families must cope in coordinating, planning and delivering care to their elders. Finally, I describe a questionnaire survey designed to determine the extent and nature of Ismā'ĪlĪ elder-care and caregiving contingency plans.