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Towards Active Ageing: a Comparative Study of Experiences of Older Ghanaians in Australia and Ghana

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Towards Active Ageing: a Comparative Study of Experiences of Older Ghanaians in Australia and Ghana Edith Cowan University Research Online Theses: Doctorates and Masters Theses 2017 Towards active ageing: A comparative study of experiences of older Ghanaians in Australia and Ghana Daniel Doh Edith Cowan University Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses Part of the Gerontology Commons, and the Medicine and Health Commons Recommended Citation Doh, D. (2017). Towards active ageing: A comparative study of experiences of older Ghanaians in Australia and Ghana. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2010 This Thesis is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2010 Edith Cowan University Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorize you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. A reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement. Where the reproduction of such material is done without attribution of authorship, with false attribution of authorship or the authorship is treated in a derogatory manner, this may be a breach of the author’s moral rights contained in Part IX of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Courts have the power to impose a wide range of civil and criminal sanctions for infringement of copyright, infringement of moral rights and other offences under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. Towards active ageing: A comparative study of experiences of older Ghanaians in Australia and Ghana This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Daniel Doh Edith Cowan University School of Arts and Humanities 2017 Dedication To Yvonne, Deborah, Kenneth and Sandra Abstract Population ageing has become a central feature of the 21st century, as most countries search for economically viable strategies to support and manage their ageing populations to live in a dignified way. In 2002, the World Health Organisation (WHO) proposed the active ageing policy framework to guide countries to develop policies that promote the quality of life for their older people. However, the interpretation and application of the active ageing model in the literature and policy discussions are inconclusive on the most important elements that promote the quality of life of older people. The discussions have largely focused on health promotion and economic aspects of the model without much attention to other aspects. In addition, there are questions about the extent to which the active ageing model is adaptable to different contexts. The lack of consensus among researchers and policy actors on the meaning of active ageing, and its application to different contexts has resulted in calls for the need for studies that explore active ageing from the perspectives of older people themselves. This thesis presents findings from a study that examined the meaning of active ageing from the lived experiences of older Ghanaians living in Ghana and Australia, and compared the findings theoretically and conceptually with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) active ageing model. The study also investigated the extent to which research participants’ socio-cultural and political contexts influenced their respective experiences and the meaning they ascribed to active ageing, and the factors that contributed to their perceived quality of life at old age. The study was designed as an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) in combination with a comparative case study situated within the life course theoretical framework. The study drew on an in-depth qualitative data collected from 30 older Ghanaians, comprising 15 who were living in Ghana and 15 who were living in Australia. Two key findings emerged from this research. First, experientially, active ageing is multidimensional and comprises social interaction, activity, health, independence, work and employment, spirituality, happiness, and public safety. i However, social interaction—which included strong family support systems, friendship networks and community activities—emerged as the single most significant experiential meaning of active ageing, and was considered critical for quality of life at old age. Despite the importance of social interaction for research participants’ quality of life, comparatively, the study found that social interaction is subsumed under the participation pillar of the WHO’s active ageing model, which is not particularly well understood or developed by policy makers compared with the pillar of health. In addition, there were notable variations in participants’ experiential meaning of active ageing between respondents in Ghana and Australia, reinforcing how different policy contexts shape people’s experiences. Second, the study found four types of quality of life from the typologies of quality of life at old age created in the data using a matrix of high and low levels of social interaction and access to essential social policy services. The types of quality of life in the matrix were optimum agers, happy poor agers, disconnected agers and destitute agers. The data showed that acquiring, creating and maintaining a high level of social interaction together with the development of knowledge, useful skills and personal initiatives in a favourable social, economic and health policy environment are likely to lead to optimum ageing. The overall contribution of this thesis relates to the need for active ageing stakeholders to contextualise the WHO’s active ageing model based on the perspectives and experiences of older people within their respective socio-cultural and political contexts. In addition, population ageing policy makers may need to consider taking steps to strengthen older people’s family systems, while creating opportunities for them to deepen their social networking and communal living. The study shows the usefulness of creating avenues for older people’s continuous engagement in activities that allow social interaction. Finally, the study also illustrates how optimum ageing occurs as a culmination of life course events, making it imperative for social policies to facilitate sound human capital development, as they have implications for income and the creation of assets needed to fuel social interaction. ii Declaration I certify that this thesis does not, to the best of my knowledge and belief: i. incorporate without acknowledgment any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institution of higher education; ii. contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text of this thesis; or iii. contain any defamatory material. Signed: Date: 15/09/2017 iii Acknowledgements To God be the glory, great things He has done. It has taken God’s mercies to come this far, and I am forever grateful to God for this privilege and grace. I am indebted to the Edith Cowan University for granting me the Edith Cowan University Post-Graduate Research Scholarship (ECUPRS), International, to undertake this study. My special thanks to the Scholarship Unit, the School of Graduate Studies and the School of Arts and Humanities for their support throughout the period. I wish to thank my supervisors, Dr Kwadwo Adusei-Asante (Principal) and Dr Vicki, Banham (Co-supervisor) for their valuable contributions to this project. Kwadwo, you did more than a supervisor could do. Thank you. I also acknowledge the support of Associate Professor Peter Hancock who started the journey with me. Thanks, Peter, for giving me a good head start. To all research participants in Ghana and Australia, thank you so much for providing such valuable information about your lived experiences. I am also grateful to the Ghana Community Associations of Western Australia and New South Wales, and the Church of Pentecost in Australia for their referral roles. Special thanks also to the Ghana Pensioners Association and HelpAge Ghana for their support during the project. The following people deserve my deepest appreciation in various roles throughout this journey: Dr Patrick Aboagye-Safo, Mrs. Rose Aboagye-Safo, Dr Isaac Boafo, Dr Isaiah Awidi, Mr Ebenezer Adjetey-Sorssey (Executive Director, HelpAge Ghana), Miss Selorm Agbeli, Rev Luke Barson, Mr. Sosthenes Tsribi, Dr Stephen Afranie and the many others I cannot single out here. Thank you all. I also want to express a special thank you to Dr John Hall and Dr Ruth Smith for proofreading the these and also providing useful suggestions. I am most grateful. A special thanks also to Linda Jaunzems for formatting the thesis. Thank you so much, Linda. Finally, I am extremely grateful to Yvonne, my wife and to Deborah, Kenneth and Sandra, my children, for their patience, tolerance and love during the hard times, constant absence from home and the sacrifices. Guys, we can now have some fun! Thank you. iv Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................... i Declaration ............................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................ iv Table of Contents ..................................................................................
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