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The Health and Well-Being of Older People in Nairobi's Slums

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The Health and Well-Being of Older People in Nairobi's Slums æINDEPTH WHO-SAGE Supplement The health and well-being of older people in Nairobi’s slums Catherine Kyobutungi1,2*, Thaddaeus Egondi1,2 and Alex Ezeh1,2 1African Population & Health Research Centre, Nairobi, Kenya; 2INDEPTH Network, Accra, Ghana Background: Globally, it is estimated that people aged 60 and over constitute more than 11% of the population, with the corresponding proportion in developing countries being 8%. Rapid urbanisation in sub- Saharan Africa (SSA), fuelled in part by ruralÁurban migration and a devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic, has altered the status of older people in many SSA societies. Few studies have, however, looked at the health of older people in SSA. This study aims to describe the health and well-being of older people in two Nairobi slums. Methods: Data were collected from residents of the areas covered by the Nairobi Urban Health and Demographic Surveillance System (NUHDSS) aged 50 years and over by 1 October 2006. Health status was assessed using the short SAGE (Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health) form. Mean WHO Quality of Life (WHOQoL) and a composite health score were computed and binary variables generated using the median as the cut-off. Logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with poor quality of life (QoL) and poor health status. Results: Out of 2,696 older people resident in the NUHDSS surveillance area during the study period, data were collected on 2,072. The majority of respondents were male, aged 50Á60 years. The mean WHOQoL score was 71.3 (SD 6.7) and mean composite health score was 70.6 (SD 13.9). Males had significantly better QoL and health status than females and older respondents had worse outcomes than younger ones. Sex, age, education level and marital status were significantly associated with QoL, while slum of residence was significantly associated with health status. Conclusion: The study adds to the literature on health and well-being of older people in SSA, especially those in urban informal settlements. Further studies are needed to validate the methods used for assessing health status and to provide comparisons from other settings. Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems have the potential to conduct such studies and to evaluate health and well-being over time. Keywords: Nairobi; slum settlements; older people; ageing; well-being; quality of life; INDEPTH WHO-SAGE Access the supplementary material to this article: INDEPTH WHO-SAGE questionnaire (including variants of vignettes), a data dictionary and a password-protected dataset (see Supplementary files under Reading Tools online). To obtain a password for the dataset, please send a request with ‘SAGE data’ as its subject, detailing how you propose to use the data, to [email protected] Received: 17 November 2009; Revised: 27 June 2010; Accepted: 8 July 2010; Published: 27 September 2010 he proportion of older people is increasing world- and over constituted 4.9% of the population under wide. Globally, it is estimated that people aged 60 surveillance. It is estimated that people aged 60 and Tand over currently constitute more than 11% of over in Kenya as a whole constituted 4.0% of the total the population; over 20% in developed nations and about population in 2005 and this proportion is expected to 8% in developing ones. The proportion of older people increase to 4.5% by 2015 and to 9.3% by 2050 (3). Older globally is expected to double to 22% by 2050 (1). In people will therefore form an increasingly important sub- Africa, people aged 60 and over account for only 5% of group in numeric terms in developing nations. the population; this is projected to increase to 11% by Older people have traditionally been held in high 2050 (2). In this study setting, people aged 60 and over esteem in many African societies for their wisdom, role constituted 1.6% of the population, and those aged 50 as heads of families and roles in conflict resolution. More Global Health Action 2010. # 2010 Catherine Kyobutungi et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons 45 Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Citation: Global Health Action Supplement 2, 2010. DOI: 10.3402/gha.v3i0.2138 Catherine Kyobutungi et al. recently, older people have been involved in the fight As the HIV/AIDS pandemic rages in SSA and as slums against HIV/AIDS, especially in their role as caregivers grow in a rapidly urbanising continent, it is important for HIV-infected family members and orphans left behind that the impact of these processes on older people is by deceased relatives. On the other hand, older people assessed and addressed. The intersection between the have not been spared by the direct effects of HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS pandemic, population ageing and uncon- A recent AIDS indicator survey in Kenya shows that the trolled urbanisation in SSA will have far-reaching con- HIV prevalence among the 50Á54 years age group is 8% sequences on the social, economic and health spheres of (similar for both males and females). The prevalence for societies. females is similar to that in the 45Á49 age group while for Despite the evident need to understand issues that males, the prevalence is higher in the 50Á54 age group. affect older people in SSA, relative to other demographic The HIV prevalence in urban areas is also higher than in trends, ageing in Africa has only recently started receiving rural areas (8.9% vs. 7.0%) (4) and even higher (11.4%) in attention in research and policy-making. There is a near the study area according to a recent survey (APHRC, absence of policies and programmes targeting older unpublished data). Apart from HIV/AIDS, older people people in most countries in SSA (15), and Kenya is no are also most affected by chronic degenerative diseases. exception. Health policies and programmes are geared This implies that in Kenya and many other countries in towards the traditional vulnerable groups of women of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), older people most probably reproductive age and children. The current National bear a dual burden of disease. Health Sector Strategic Plan however recognises that Population ageing is occurring in a context of rapid older people have special needs that are different from urbanisation in SSA. Africa is urbanising at a rate faster other adults and hence spells out specific interventions than any other region in the world and by 2030 more than for older people (16). In addition to regular curative and half of the SSA population will live in urban areas (5). preventive services, such interventions include annual The pace of urbanisation in many SSA countries has not screening and provision of curative services for degen- been matched by economic growth. In fact, in countries erative diseases, and counselling for lifestyle changes. It like Kenya, urbanisation has been rapid amid economic remains to be seen whether these interventions have been stagnation. This has resulted in an increase in the number translated into real programmes that serve older people and size of informal settlements or slums in many cities. in health facilities. It is estimated that more than 70% of urban residents in The fact that older people have been long neglected in SSA live in slum or slum-like conditions. In Kenya, this many policies and programmes in Kenya means that percentage is about 71% (6). The informal nature of these there is a dearth of research on their health and well- settlements means that they are underserved by the public being. This study therefore aims to fill the gap in ageing sector in the provision of basic amenities and services research in Africa by describing the health and well-being including health, education, water and sanitation, and of older people living in two Nairobi slums. garbage collection services. Slums are also characterised by high levels of unemployment, overcrowding, insecur- ity, greater involvement in risky sexual practices, social Methods fragmentation, and high levels of mobility (7Á9). Studies from different SSA countries have shown that slum Study setting residents have worse health outcomes than their rural The study was conducted in two slum communities where counterparts (10Á13). For example, childhood mortality the African Population and Health Research Centre in poor urban areas of Zambia and Malawi is higher than (APHRC) is implementing the longitudinal Nairobi in rural and peri-urban areas (11, 14). Desperate living Urban Health and Demographic Surveillance System conditions and lack of livelihood opportunities could (NUHDSS). The NUHDSS covers large parts of the two predispose residents to risky health-related behaviours slums of Korogocho and Viwandani in Nairobi City, such as high alcohol consumption, unsafe sex, smoking Kenya’s capital and commercial centre. Both commu- and other substance abuse. All these factors have adverse nities are informal settlements located about 5Á10 km effects on health which may be compounded by poor from the city centre. The population under surveillance as access to health services. of 1 January 2007 was 59,513 individuals living in 21,993 Ageing in an urban setting, especially a slum settle- households. ment, poses its own challenges. These include weak social The NUHDSS started after an initial census in August networks, neglect and loss of respect and stature that are 2002. Since January 2003, data on core demographic often accorded older people in more stable communities. events (births, deaths, in- and out-migrations) have been It should be expected, therefore, that older people in slum collected and updated every 4 months during routine settlements have poor or even poorer health outcomes Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) just like other sub-populations therein.
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