Addressing Health and Well-being of U.S. Chinese Older Adults through Community-Based Participatory Research: Introduction to the PINE Study

The Chinese older population in the U.S. is among the largest and fastest growing segment of the aging population; however, little is known regarding their health and well-being due to various research barriers. To fill in the critical void, the Population-based Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago (the PINE study) was carried out as an epidemiological study of health and well-being amongst 3,157 community-dwelling Chinese older adults aged 60 years and older in the Greater Chicago Area. Based on the PINE study findings, this special issue is designed to examine the health status, medical conditions, and social and psychological well-being of Chinese American older adults. This editorial described the rationale of the study, methods and design, and preliminary findings. Important study implications for researchers and policy makers were also reported. In aggregate, coordinated family and community care, improved delivery of care, practice changes, and policy reform are necessary to work in concert to prepare for the diverse minority older adults who are in urgent need of the linguistically and culturally appropriate social services.