Income and Health in Accra, Ghana: Results from a Time Use and Health Study

Fink, Günther; Weeks, John R.; Hill, Allan G.

doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2012.12-0062

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Some authors carried out a similar study in Ghana with related findings [ 35 ]. In the contrary, some authors found no association between income and individual health status, most likely due to the use of an objective measurement of health state [ 66 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of self-reported health among the elderly in Ghana: a cross sectional study

et al. 2017

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BackgroundSelf-reported health is a widely used measure of health status across individuals. As the ageing population increases, the health of the elderly also becomes of growing concern. The elderly go through life facing social, economic and financial hardships. These hardships are known to affect the health status of people as they age. The purpose of this study is to assess social and health related factors of self-reported health among the elderly in Ghana.MethodsA multivariate regression analysis in form of a binary and ordinal logistic regression were used to determine the association between socioeconomic, demographic and health related factors, on self-reported health. The data used for this study was drawn from the World Health Organization (WHO) Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) Wave 1.ResultsIn total, out of 2613 respondent, 579 (20.1%) rated their health status as poor and 2034 (79.9%) as good. The results showed that the odds of reporting poor health was 2.5 times higher among the old-old compared to the young old. The elderly with one or more than one chronic condition had the odds of 1.6 times and 2 times respectively, of reporting poor health. Engaging in mild to moderate exercise increased the chances of reporting poor health by 1.8 times. The elderly who had never worked in a lifetime were 2 times more likely to report poor health. In the same way, residents of Eastern and Western parts of Ghana were 2 times more likely to report poor health compared to those in the Upper West region. Respondents with functional limitations and disabilities were 3.6 times and 2.4 times respectively, more likely to report poor health. On the other hand, the odds of reporting poor health was 29, 36 and 27% less among respondents in the highest income quintiles, former users of tobacco and those satisfied with certain aspects of life respectively. Also, current alcohol users were 41% less likely to report poor health.ConclusionThe health status of the elderly is to an extent determined by the circumstances in which they are born, grow and live. The findings suggest that addressing social issues faced by individuals in youthful age will go a long way to achieving good health in the future. People with physical limitations and disabilities are most vulnerable to unmet healthcare needs and support system from government, policy makers and family.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of self-reported health among the elderly in Ghana: a cross sectional study

et al. 2017

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“…Parents move for work, taking their children with them or leaving them to be cared for by extended family (Sam, ), and divorce and single parenthood have increased (Kpoor, ). An estimated 50 percent of Accra households live in poverty (Fink, Weeks, & Hill, ), with families commonly living in one‐room homes. However, a small but increasing middle class (Ncube & Shimeles, ) is integrating individualistic western values with traditional ones.…”

Section: The Urban Ghanaian Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child‐caregiver Attachment Representations in a Non‐Western Context: The Feasibility and Cultural Equivalence of Story Stems in Urban Ghana

2016

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Story stem measures are an increasingly popular method for assessing the attachment representations of young children, but little is known of their cross‐cultural applicability. This study aimed to characterise the attachment representations in 73 five‐ to eight‐year‐old children in urban Ghana, West Africa, using the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task (MCAST) to test its feasibility, psychometric characteristics and concurrent associations with caregiver‐ and teacher‐rated child behaviour, and to conduct a qualitative thematic analysis of methodological observations. Among the classifiable cases (92 percent), all attachment classifications were observed, yielding a higher rate of secure attachment than in European samples. Inter‐rater reliability, internal consistency, and internal structure were reasonable and largely similar to European studies, although one structural difference was the separation of ‘child assuagement of distress’ from other secure‐related items. MCAST narratives were associated with teacher‐ and caregiver‐rated hyperactivity, but internal consistency was low in most Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scales. Possible culturally‐sensitive explanations for our psychometric and qualitative findings are discussed. Overall, story stems are a promising tool for accessing attachment representations in non‐Western samples, although modifications are likely to improve cross‐cultural equivalence when applied to non‐Western cultures. Further investigation is needed to link MCAST outcomes to parenting and socio‐emotional development.

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“…A closer look within the city of Accra indicates that the lowest levels of fertility are found in the oldest most consolidated neighborhoods, which in Ghana are neighborhoods with lower population density and greater levels of vegetation than in the compact urban core. The latter is densely populated by people living on low levels of income (Fink, Weeks, & Hill, ) and experiencing low fertility, but not as low as those seen in more consolidated neighborhoods beyond the core. Overall, then, the relative difference in coefficients between the four most urban environments indicates significant variability in the association between fertility levels and urbanization.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fertility and urban context: A case study from Ghana, West Africa, using remotely sensed imagery and GIS

Benza

Weeks

Stow

et al. 2017

Population Space and Place

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Sub‐Saharan Africa has the highest levels of fertility in the world, despite rapid urban growth in most nations of the region. While there are many reasons for the fact that fertility decline is slow in Africa, we hypothesize that the relationship between fertility and urbanization is obscured by the fact that urbanization takes place along a gradient. In the most urban places (e.g., neighborhoods of the largest cities), fertility is apt to be very low, but most urban residents are residing in places that are somewhere along a continuum from completely rural to the most urban possible. All previous attempts to define that urban gradient and relate it to fertility levels rely in one form or another on census data. Because sub‐Saharan‐African countries are among the least prolific in terms of census gathering, a measure that relies solely on satellite imagery to gage a place's position along the urban gradient could be extremely useful. This paper describes a methodology for doing this and then uses data from the West African country of Ghana to examine how spatial patterns of land cover are associated with fertility. Satellite imagery and landscape metrics are used to create an urban context definition based on landscape patterns using a gradient approach. Census data are used to model the association between urban context and fertility through ordinary least square regression and spatial autoregressive models. Results indicate that there are significant differences in fertility between different urban contexts.

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Income and Health in Accra, Ghana: Results from a Time Use and Health Study

Cited by 16 publications

References 17 publications

Predictors of self-reported health among the elderly in Ghana: a cross sectional study

Predictors of self-reported health among the elderly in Ghana: a cross sectional study

Child‐caregiver Attachment Representations in a Non‐Western Context: The Feasibility and Cultural Equivalence of Story Stems in Urban Ghana

Fertility and urban context: A case study from Ghana, West Africa, using remotely sensed imagery and GIS

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