Aging in Ghana: Setting Priorities for Research, Intervention and Policy

Introduction

Ghana’s aging population has increased seven-fold over a fifty year period—from 213,477 in 1960 to 1,643,381 in 2010 (Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), 2013). The current proportion of Ghanaians over 60 years is 5%; this is one of the highest proportions of that age category in sub-Saharan Africa (GSS, 2013). Over the next few decades, population aging in Ghana is likely to increase, like other African countries, at a rate that exceeds that of high income countries of Europe and North America (Ayernor, 2012; de-Graft Aikins et al, 2016; Minicuci et al., 2014). The socio-economic and socio-cultural challenges associated with aging in Ghana require interventions and policies that address the multifaceted needs of older Ghanaians. These services and policies, as regional and global experts observe (cf. Apt, 1996; Makoni and Stroeken, 2002; UN, 2013) have to be context-specific and based on evidence informed by robust multidisciplinary programmes of research that examine aging issues from micro (e.g. illness experience) to macro (e.g. social security) levels.

There has been six decades of research on aging in Ghana. However there has been no attempt to synthesise the available body of work to address current and future research, practice and policy challenges. The aim of this special section of Ghana Studies, titled Aging in Ghana: Addressing the Multifaceted Needs of Older Ghanaians, is to address this major gap. This volume is the product of a symposium organized by the Centre for Social Policy Studies (CSPS), University of Ghana, in December 2014 that brought together researchers working on different aspects of aging from anthropology, psychology, public health, social policy studies and sociology. This issue consists of papers originally presented at the symposium and new papers submitted in response to a call for submissions to the issue. In this editorial we present a brief history of aging research in Africa to place aging in Ghana within the regional context. We then introduce the special issue papers and outline emerging insights for strengthening aging research, intervention and policy in Ghana.

A Brief History of Aging Research in Africa

Research on aging in Africa began in the 1970s when the United Nations sponsored pilot surveys on aging in nine low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including Ghana and Uganda (Apt, 2005). In 1982 the United Nations (UN) convened the first World Assembly on Ageing in Vienna. In 1984, the Government of Senegal in collaboration with UNESCO and UNFPA, organised the first African conference on aging in Dakar at which 29 African countries were represented. These meetings heralded a growing interest in the well-being of aging populations in Africa and drove newer sets of studies on aging from the social sciences and humanities beyond Ghana and Uganda. Networks such as the African Geronto-logical Society (AGES) and African Research on Ageing Network (AFRAN) were established. The networks provided a platform for supporting and disseminating multidisciplinary research on aging (Apt, 2005; Aboderin, 2005).

In 2001, the African Regional Office of HelpAge International—a non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to aging research and policy—based in Nairobi, Kenya, achieved a major policy breakthrough by successfully including aging issues on the agenda of an African Union (AU) meeting. The AU accepted in principle that aging was an issue of concern for all member countries and endorsed the formulation of a Draft Policy Framework and Plan of Action on Ageing. In 2002, the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) was developed at the Second United Nations World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid. MIPAA outlined three priority areas for research and intervention on aging: (1) older persons and development; (2) advancing health and well-being into old age; and (3) ensuring enabling and supportive environments. These priority areas have formed the basis for the Global AgeWatch measurements—conducted by Help Age International—of the social and economic well-being of older citizens in selected countries over the last decade. A sustained push for prioritising aging issues in global social policies has also come through follow up...