A Study on Self-Care Practices among Chinese Immigrants 55+

华人移民长者(55+)的日常自我保健

Minhui Yang (She/They) is a PhD Candidate in Social and Behavioural Health Sciences at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Her doctoral research study (Keeping Well 2022) takes the lenses of feminist and critical social theories to investigate how older Chinese immigrants take care of themselves in everyday life in the Great Toronto Area. Minhui received her Master's degree in Global Health from Duke University in 2015.


Minhui's current research interests are centred on the care practices of people, and how community-based and mutual care practices influence the overall well-being of people in different circumstances, especially transnational ones. Her recent publications include two articles inspired by global Chinese people's mutual aid and care activities during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Minhui has also participated in research projects on HIV-related behavioural health in both Canada and China, focusing on marginalized populations including HIV mixed-status couples and men who have sex with men.


Minhui lives with her beloved cat Momo in Downtown Toronto, and sees Toronto as her second home besides Beijing, where she had resided for over 20 years. In Toronto, she has been an enthusiastic participant in multiple community-based programs for the resilience and justice of racialized populations, particularly PROTECH


In her leisure time, Minhui loves going to concerts, wandering in parks, and cooking with/for her partner and friends.


Publications

Yang, M. Virtual mutual care practices of Chinese people amid censorship during the initial COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China. International Journal of Care and Caring. 

Yang, M., Li, C., Zou, K., Liang, Y., Zhang, R., Tang, K. (2023). “They have their own people”: emotional connections, community belonging, and Chinese gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) college students’ needs for sexual health support. Plos One.

Yang, M., Daftary, A., Mendelsohn, J., Ryan, M., Bullock, S., Bisallon, L., Bourne, A., Lebouché, B., Thompson, T., Calzavara, L. (2022). "Live a normal life": Constructions of resilience among people in mixed HIV status relationships in Canada. Plos One.

Ryan, M., Mendelsohn, J., Daftary, A., Yang, M., Bullock, S., Lebouché, B., Calzavara, L. & Positive Plus One Team (2022). Dual pharmaceutical citizenship: Exploring biomedicalization in the daily lives of mixed HIV-serostatus couples in Canada. Social Science & Medicine, 114863.

(Co-first author) Zhang, J., Yang, M., Sui, Z. (2021). Virtual care facing the COVID-19 outbreak in China. International Journal of Care and Caring, 6(1-2), 275-281   

(Co-first author) Liu, Y., Yang, M., Zhao, C., Tan, S., & Tang, K. (2019). Self-identified sexual orientations and high-risk sexual behaviours among Chinese youth. BMJ sexual & reproductive health, 45(4), 255-262.

Chen, L., & Yang, M. (2018). New opportunities for China in global health. The Lancet Global Health, 6(7), e722-e723.

Full version of Minhui's CV can be found here.

Land acknowledgment

With gratitude and respect, I acknowledge that I am working and living on the traditional land of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. Toronto, covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit, continues to be home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. 

My work is engaged in addressing the ongoing impact of colonialism, racism, sexism, and other forms of social injustices that disproportionately impact Indigenous, Black and racialized communities in Canada and across the globe.

Get in touch at mh.yang@mail.utoronto.ca