Aging and Demographic Transition in Ghana: State of the Elderly and Emerging Issues

Kpessa-Whyte, Michael

doi:10.1093/geront/gnx205

Cited by 95 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The latter is fostered by a myriad of drivers. Social change is induced by modernization, urbanization, globalization (Apt, 2012;Kpessa-Whyte, 2018). This, in turn, has necessitated societal and familial changes, which could be explained by social and economic conditions.…”

Section: Role Of Social Changementioning

confidence: 99%

The Status of Older Adult Care in Contemporary Ghana: A Profile of Some Emerging Issues

Dovie

2019

Front. Sociol.

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The paper examines how the healthcare and social care pillars of social policy for aging societies shape inequalities in health and well-being at old age, utilizing qualitative and quantitative datasets. The results intimate the lack of geriatric infrastructure, hence the inadequacy of geriatric care provision for older adults. Systemic problems or gaps existent in Ghana led to private individuals taking advantage of the situation, turning it into an opportunity for service providers. Thus, the evolution of recreational/residential homes in Ghana is situated along three distinct patterns or forms namely the occasional, the adult day care center and residential archetypes. Collectively, these constitute formal and informal care facilities. These are often privately owned and at a cost. The nature of quality of care may be affected by the types of homes available, especially in the globalized cultural setting. A growing number of older adults resort to care homes as an alternative measure. These are discussed from two viewpoints. First, geriatric data generation, the absence of which impedes healthcare provision. Second, cash-for-care policies may exacerbate existing inequalities in care with negative consequences for health and well-being. In short, policies for aging populations are being implemented across Ghana with too little known about their consequences for inequalities in health and well-being in later life. The paper sought to address this knowledge gap by exploring a significant infrastructure by undertaking a systematic examination of how recent policy developments for aging exacerbate or reduce inequalities in health and well-being among older adults. The paper concludes that social policy for aging societies' specific key pillars (healthcare and social care research) offers opportunities for analyzing and understanding internal dynamics including the effects of policy implementation for inequalities in health and well-being at older ages, therefore enabling the identification of strategies to improve older adults' circumstances, without which older adult population will far outpace elder care provision.

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Section: Role Of Social Changementioning

confidence: 99%

The Status of Older Adult Care in Contemporary Ghana: A Profile of Some Emerging Issues

Dovie

2019

Front. Sociol.

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“…The first pension programs which were established in the colonial administration, particularly in the period between 1936 and 1946 (Kumado & Gockel, 2003;SSNIT, 2015) were targeted not at providing retirement income security for the older people but were designed to serve as loyalty awarded to Africans who served the Crown diligently and blamelessly (Kpessa, 2011(Kpessa, , 2018. After independence, a new pension program known as the Provident Fund was introduced but was designed as a contributory program based on formal sector earnings.…”

Section: Evolution Of the Ghanaian Retirement Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As Giesecke and Yang (2017) have argued, "being informed about a forward-looking measure of pension benefits makes the financial consequences of retirement choices more salient to the decision maker" (p.1). Financial literacy plays a role in preparing towards retirement (Dovie, 2018b(Dovie, , 2018dKpessa-Whyte, 2018) and securing livelihood activities even in old age (Kpessa-Whyte, 2018).…”

Section: Awareness Of Pension Policy Provisionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pension Policy Dimension to Ghanaian Workers’ Housing Needs Provision

Dovie¹,

Ayimey²,

Adodo-Samani³

2018

INTERC

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The paper explores workers’ housing needs, expectations and pension policy compatibility to meeting this need using the pension system as a mortgage facility. Use was made of a cross-sectional design. A sample of 131 workers was selected through convenient sampling. The findings show that workers have need for houses with retirement in focus and that they expect government to provide them with affordable houses. Government’s provision of these housing needs can purportedly be met via the national pension system’s mortgage facility. Significantly, house acquisition situated within the context of retirement preparation is indicative of retirement portfolio diversification. The findings have implications for promoting housing provision for all workers.

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“…Like many other countries, Ghana is experiencing a demographic transition charcterised by rapid aging. The population aged 60 years and older in Ghana is currently 5.3% and is projected to reach 14.1% of the total population by 2050 (1,2). The ageing population typically modi es disease burden patterns in countries, with increasing impact of age-related health conditions, while emerging economies like Ghana, in addition, continue to cope with the burden of infectious diseases, injuries and non-communicable diseases (3).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ageing population typically modi es disease burden patterns in countries, with increasing impact of age-related health conditions, while emerging economies like Ghana, in addition, continue to cope with the burden of infectious diseases, injuries and non-communicable diseases (3). It seems however, that many health services may not adequately be prepared for services tailored to the peculiar needs of the elderly (2). Furthermore, older adults in Ghana could often be at higher nancial risk of impoverishing health expenditures as a result of often having greater health and long-term care needs compared to younger people.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household Expenditures And Direct Medical Costs Among Older Adults In Ghana: Evidence From WHO-SAGE Wave 2

Blankson

Hewlett

Ndanu

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: The Ghanaian population aged 60 years and older will almost double to reach 14% of the total population by 2050. Ascertaining the pattern of health expenditures among this growing population group is important to inform policy makers about the targets for financial risk protection as part of achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030. This study aimed to estimate household expenditures among older adults and determine their direct medical costs.Methods: The World Health Organization's Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) Wave 2 was conducted in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russian Federation, and South Africa between 2014 and 2015, as a follow-up to Wave 0 in 2003 to 2004 and Wave 1 in 2007 to 2010. Survey questions explored sources of income and total directhousehold expenditures in the year preceding the interview. SAGE Ghana was implemented using face-to-face interviews in a nationally representative sample of persons aged 50+ years with a comparison sample of younger adults aged 18–49 years. Findings: Analyses included a total of 4,735 participants, with 1,948 (43.8%) males and 2,787 (56.2%) females, with a mean age of 57.6 (±16.7). The average annual household expenditure was US$ 2,458 (±7,374). Older adults had higher expenditure levels at US$ 2,501 (±8,307), as compared to younger adults, US$ 2,309 (±3,056). Direct health-related and food costs accounted for 10% and 35% respectively of the total household expenditure. The prevalence of catastrophic health expenditure in households of older adults in Ghana was 7.5% (95% CI 6.0% - 9.3%).Conclusion: These updated estimates on household expenditure among older adults provide needed evidence to support the inclusion of social protection mechanisms in the national ageing agenda. The National Health Insurance reduced the burden of direct health expenditure for households with older adults.

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Aging and Demographic Transition in Ghana: State of the Elderly and Emerging Issues

Cited by 95 publications

References 11 publications

The Status of Older Adult Care in Contemporary Ghana: A Profile of Some Emerging Issues

The Status of Older Adult Care in Contemporary Ghana: A Profile of Some Emerging Issues

Pension Policy Dimension to Ghanaian Workers’ Housing Needs Provision

Household Expenditures And Direct Medical Costs Among Older Adults In Ghana: Evidence From WHO-SAGE Wave 2

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