Psychosocial well-being of the elderly at Mamfe township in the Akuapem North Municipality

Abstract

The study assessed the psychosocial well-being of the elderly in Mamfe Township in the Akuapem North Municipality of Ghana. Psychosocial well-being is an aspect of personality often overlooked when assessing the health of an elderly individual. While greater importance is being placed on helping elderly individuals remain active in the community, little interest has been generated on the topic of psychosocial wellbeing. The purpose of the study is to explore the psychosocial well-being of the elderly. A purposive sample of ten (10) elderly in the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches, and pensioners association completed a survey interview. An in-depth interview was conducted in eliciting the lived experiences of the elderly in the Mamfe Township. All recorded data (audio and written) was transcribed verbatim and coded using SPSS, a qualitative data analysis computer software. Also, two hundred and one (201) questionnaires were given out as a random sampling for the elderly in the area for the quantitative aspect. Responses were grouped under the themes of the interview and the questionnaires, and this guided the discussions which followed. The results of the study revealed that most of the elderly sampled felt good, blessed and privileged to attain that age. Again, their economic status and support systems put in place by their caregivers were highly catered for. There is therefore the need to recommend pastoral care counselling, education, day-care centers to the elderly and strengthen current preventive rather than remedial measures through pastoral and counselling programmes in churches, work places, communities and through better education of school-going youth to plan toward aging to improve the psychosocial well-being of the elderly in the Mamfe township of the Akuapem North Municipal in the Eastern Region of Ghana at this modern era to curb the burden on children or young family.