Provision of social support for the aged in the Cape Coast metropolis

Abstract

With the increasing number of the aged in Ghana, social support for this segment of the population is gradually becoming an issue of great concern. There is debt of research on this. This study is therefore an attempt to provide some information for policy makers towards enhancing planning of better health, social financial support services for the aged to promote their well-being. The descriptive and explanatory survey designs were employed to achieve the objective of the research. The present study examines the type of social support available for the aged in the Cape Coast Metropolis. It assesses the adequacy or otherwise of such support. Data were gathered in two type of social communities of the five zones of the metropolis. The research focused on the type of social support available, the main providers of the support and how the aged themselves react to the support. The evidence from the study shows that the informal support system is the most important source of support for the aged. It also found that the provision of the support has gradually shifted from the extended to the nuclear family with daughters of aged providing much more than their sons. The aged admit that their children could not provide all their needs in the face of the latter's commitment to other responsibilities in the nuclear family. The implication is that government intervention will be necessary to augment the effort of their children, as a way of improving social support.