Coping with the COVID-19 crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa: let us not leave older people behind!

While existing research acknowledges copious challenges faced by older adults (people aged 60 and over) in Ghana and most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, they fail to situate the lived experiences of this vulnerable group within the broader context of health geography and public health. This paper draws insights from ecological systems theory and the “geographies of older people” literature to examine the lived experiences of older people in Ghana. Data for the study were gathered using interviews (42) and sharing circles (10). Our findings reveal a complex mix of experiences consistent with the different levels of the environment. Dominant themes include access to social support, functional impairment and poor health status, social status, poor access to water and sanitation services, food insecurity, economic insecurity, and caregiving burden. These findings support the wide-held notion that the experiences of older people are complex and produced by the interplay of both individual and structural factors. Our findings demonstrate that sociocultural, economic, political, and climatic factors are important consideration in promoting elderly wellbeing and quality of life in Ghana.

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Features of Rural Communities in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa That Influence Well-Being of Older Persons

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.1622 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 420-421

Author(s):

Andrew Banda ◽

Norah Keating ◽

Jaco Hoffman ◽

Jose Parodi ◽

Nereide Curreri

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Latin America ◽

Rural Communities ◽

Older People ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Older Persons ◽

Subjective Wellbeing ◽

Well Being ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Sub Saharan

Abstract In their recent volume, Critical Rural Gerontology, Skinner et al (2021) challenge us to set aside unidimensional notions of rural communities as bypassed vs very supportive; and to identify the elements of rurality that empower or exclude older people and how these differ across cultures and settings. Covid-19 has highlighted the need for safe and inclusive communities. Given that LMIC will be home to the majority of older adults (Gonzales et al. 2015), we undertook a scoping review of features of rural communities that influence wellbeing of older people in countries across Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. The review included literature in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, using search engines MEDLINE, CINAHL Complete, PsycInfo, SocINDEX, SciELO, AJOL (Africa Journals Online), LILACS, Redalyc, LatinIndex and Clacso. Findings illustrate diversity in how community features including remoteness, infrastructure and belonging influence material, social and subjective wellbeing of older residents.

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Prevalences of dementia and cognitive impairment among older people in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review

Bulletin of the World Health Organization ◽

10.2471/blt.13.118422 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 91 (10) ◽

pp. 773-783 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Angelique Mavrodaris ◽

John Powell ◽

Margaret Thorogood

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Older People ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Sub Saharan

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MON-PO511: A New Equation Using Knee Height to Predict Overall Height Among Older People in Sub-Saharan Africa

Clinical Nutrition ◽

10.1016/s0261-5614(19)32344-1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 38 ◽

pp. S247-S248

Author(s):

R. Mas ◽

B. Marin ◽

C. Mizéhoun-Adissoda ◽

S. Pilleron ◽

M. Guerchet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Knee Height ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

New Equation

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Pensions, consumption and health: evidence from rural South Africa

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-020-09666-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Peter Lloyd-Sherlock ◽

Sutapa Agrawal ◽

Francesc Xavier Gómez-Olivé

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Body Mass Index ◽

Older People ◽

Body Mass ◽

Population Based ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Middle Income ◽

Food Scarcity ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Food And Drink

Abstract Background Increasing numbers of older people in sub-Saharan Africa are gaining access to pension benefits and it is often claimed that these benefits promote healthy forms of consumption, which contribute to significant improvements in their health status. However, evidence to support these claims is limited. Methods The paper uses data for 2701 people aged 60 or over who participated in a population-based study in rural north-eastern South Africa. It analyses effects of receiving a pension on reported food scarcity, body mass index and patterns of consumption. Results The paper finds that living in a pension household is associated with a reduced risk of reported food scarcity and with higher levels of consumption of food and drink. The paper does not find that living in a pension household is associated with a higher prevalence of current smoking nor current alcohol consumption. However, the paper still finds that tobacco and alcohol make up over 40% of reported food and drink consumption, and that the correlation between reported food scarcity and body mass index status is imperfect. Conclusions The paper does not show significant associations between pension receipt and the selected risk factors. However, the context of prevalent obesity and high shares of household spending allocated to tobacco and alcohol call into question widely-made claims that pensions enhance healthy consumption among older people in low and middle-income countries.

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Understanding ageing in sub-Saharan Africa: exploring the contributions of religious and secular social involvement to life satisfaction

Ageing and Society ◽

10.1017/s0144686x10001005 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 455-474 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

IVY A. KODZI ◽

STEPHEN OBENG GYIMAH ◽

JACQUES B. EMINA ◽

ALEX C. EZEH

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Health Status ◽

Older People ◽

Religious Identity ◽

Social Engagement ◽

Subjective Wellbeing ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Social Involvement ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Sub Saharan

ABSTRACTRapid urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa is believed to have weakened the traditional family ties which sustained older people in the past, but there is little empirical evidence about how older people today perceive their ageing experience in sub-Saharan Africa. The international gerontology literature demonstrates that, apart from financial wellbeing and health status, religious and secular forms of social involvement are key predictors of life satisfaction in older ages. No formal analysis, however, exists on the effects of religious and non-religious social involvement on the subjective wellbeing of older people in sub-Saharan nations. This study sought to fill this gap by examining the relationship between religious identity, religiosity, and secular social engagement using survey data from a sample of 2,524 men and women aged 50 or more years living in informal settlements of Nairobi City. We found significant differences in life satisfaction between Moslems, Catholics and non-Catholic Christians. Secular social support, personal sociability and community participation had positive effects on subjective wellbeing. In this context, we also observed that next to health status, the social involvement of older people was very important for life satisfaction.

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