Toward a comprehensive understanding of the needs of elderly Ghanaians

Darkwa, Osei

doi:10.1007/s12126-000-1012-z

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 8 publications

(5 reference statements)

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“…The pace of ageing is set to increase dramatically, with the percentage of older adults projected to reach 9.8 per cent by 2050 (United Nations, 2017). A key policy issue is whether Ghana is ready to harness the opportunities, such as taking leadership roles in business and communities, that arise from population ageing and leverage the benefits of a demographic dividend (Darkwa, 2000; Butler et al ., 2008; Ocansey et al ., 2013; Bloom and Luca, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional difficulties and toileting among older adults in Ghana: evidence from the World Health Organization Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) Ghana Wave 1

et al. 2021

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Ghana's older population is projected to increase in coming decades and as a result will see increasing care needs. Understanding the functional difficulties older adults experience, and the associated factors, will help identify relevant intervention to assist older adults in meeting their care needs. This study aimed to analyse the prevalence of functional difficulties among older adults in Ghana, and examine how the World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (WHO-ICF) conceptual framework can relate to toileting difficulty to understand the factors that increase older adults’ care needs. Data were for 5,096 adults aged ⩾50 years from the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) Ghana Wave 1. Difficulties were assessed using self-reported difficulty on 22 functional items, including toileting. Multivariate logistic regression tested associations between toileting and other factors as related to the WHO-ICF conceptual framework. Older adults reported climbing one flight of stairs without resting as a common functional difficulty. Difficulty eating was the item least identified. Toileting difficulty was ranked second among five total activities of daily living difficulties. Age, marital status, self-reported health, memory, bodily pain, short- and far-distance vision, obesity, stroke, chronic lung disease, trust at individual and neighbourhood level, toilet facility type, socialising with co-workers, and public and religious meeting attendance were statistically significantly associated with toileting difficulty in the final parsimonious model. Post-hoc analysis testing interaction revealed that interaction existed between female sex and never married marital status (p = 0.04), and obesity and widowed marital status (p = 0.01), with toileting as the outcome. A significant level of functional difficulty existed among Ghanaian older adults in this sample. Toileting difficulty was associated with factors across different components in the WHO-ICF, emphasising functional, social and environmental factors related to this fundamental human activity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional difficulties and toileting among older adults in Ghana: evidence from the World Health Organization Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) Ghana Wave 1

et al. 2021

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“…Integral to Ghanaian society is the culture of reciprocity [51,52]. Caring for one's parents is viewed as both a filial obligation and social responsibility.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Societal perceptions of caregivers linked to culture across 20 countries: Evidence from a 10-billion-word database

Indran

2021

PLoS ONE

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Caregivers play an indispensable role in society. In 2017, 41 million family caregivers in the United States provided approximately 34 billion hours of care to their aging parents, spouses, partners and friends. The estimated economic value of their unpaid contributions amounted to $470 billion. Despite their invaluable contributions, caregivers often operate in a reality of inadequate social support. Little is known about the factors linked to the societal perceptions of caregivers, and our study seeks to contribute by filling this gap. Importantly, whether society honors or stigmatizes caregivers is critical as it could impact caregiving decisions and either exacerbate or ameliorate caregiver burden. We leveraged an online media database of 10 billion words collated from over 28 million articles, across 20 countries, to analyze societal perceptions of caregivers. Of the 20 countries, 18 evidenced neutral to positive perceptions of caregivers. Bangladesh and Ghana had the most positive perceptions, while Sri Lanka and Tanzania had the most negative perceptions. Aging demographics and culture (individualism, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance) were significantly associated with perceptions of caregivers. Findings suggest that positive perceptions of caregivers can be better cultivated when caring is lauded as a virtuous act that aids in reducing the care deficit. This study is among the first to analyze the societal perceptions of caregivers globally, and lays the groundwork to design culturally sensitive interventions that increase society’s appreciation for caregivers.

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“…As a reflection of the global trend in aging, older people (aged 60 years and above) constituted 6.5% of the 25 million Ghanaians in the year 2010 (Ghana Statistical Service [GSS], 2012), and their number will increase by 4.7 million by 2050 (GSS, 2013). Population aging in Ghana is occurring at a time of increased migration and urbanization, increased importance of formal education, and a weakening of the traditional safety net (Aboderin, 2004a(Aboderin, , 2004bApt, 1996;Assimeng, 1999;Coe, 2017;Darkwa, 2000;GSS, 2012;Nukunya, 2003). The demographic transition has also occurred in the context of a shift from an agrarian and traditionalist society to a more industrialized one, where modern services spearheaded by young professionals with formal educational credentials, predominate (GSS, 2012).…”

Section: Original Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Older Adults’ Expectations and Experiences With Health care Professionals in Ghana

Issahaku

Sulemana

2021

Sage Open

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By the year 2050, over 6 million of Ghana’s population will be people aged 60 years and above. Because of increased health challenges that accompany aging, older Ghanaians have health needs to address communicable and chronic non-communicable diseases. This suggests that now into the future, older adults in Ghana will have increased contact with health care professionals. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore older adults’ expectations and experiences with health care professionals to generate information that will shape health care policy and service delivery. Interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 23 persons aged 60 years and above from the North and South of Ghana. The transcribed data were imported to NVivo software to aid with analysis of the data. An inductive approach ta data analysis was used, drawing from thematic analyses procedures. Three key findings emerged from the study. These include (a) noncompassionate care—health professionals were neglectful, inattentive, discriminatory, and stigmatizing toward participants; (b) disrespectful attitude—professionals showed disrespect by shouting or yelling, making participants feel invisible, or not distinguishing participants from younger patients; and (c) a better way to treat us—participants called for compassion, patience, respect, honesty, and priority attention from health care professionals. The study contributes to literature on older adults’ experiences with health care professionals and suggests to health policy makers and health care professionals to consider older adults’ care expectations to make health care services elder-friendly.

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Toward a comprehensive understanding of the needs of elderly Ghanaians

Cited by 10 publications

References 8 publications

Functional difficulties and toileting among older adults in Ghana: evidence from the World Health Organization Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) Ghana Wave 1

Functional difficulties and toileting among older adults in Ghana: evidence from the World Health Organization Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) Ghana Wave 1

Societal perceptions of caregivers linked to culture across 20 countries: Evidence from a 10-billion-word database

Older Adults’ Expectations and Experiences With Health care Professionals in Ghana

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