They Carried Us Through Life: Who Will Carry Them Now? A Call To Care For The Aged (2)

The shift in Ghana from the traditional extended family system toward a more nuclear family structure has intensified challenges associated with elderly care by weakening intergenerational household support. Economic pressures and urban migration have further contributed to the decline of the extended family system, which previously served as a primary source of care for older persons.

Consequently, many elderly individuals are increasingly left alone during the day, even when they reside within family households. Ghana continues to rely largely on fragmented policy measures and family-based care arrangements. In contrast, several countries have moved toward more structured, state-supported elderly care systems.

In the United Kingdom, elderly persons are referred by general practitioners to community-based centres where they engage in structured activities such as exercise classes, art therapy, gardening, music sessions, and peer interaction groups. The UK model known as “social prescribing” places strong emphasis on mental health and loneliness prevention.

In Japan, elderly persons regularly attend local community centres where they participate in physical exercise, cultural activities, games, and social interaction. These centres are often supported by municipal governments and integrated with the national health insurance system. Medical personnel routinely monitor elderly participants, ensuring early detection of health conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and mobility challenges.

South Africa provides community-based care systems combined with social protection grants. Elderly persons receive monthly financial support from the state. In addition, many communities operate day-care centres and home-based care services supported by NGOs and local municipalities.

South Africa's approach is significant because it combines income security with community care, ensuring that older persons are not only financially supported but also socially engaged.

For Ghana, these lessons are particularly relevant. They provide valuable insights that can guide the country in forging ahead with deliberate, well-planned interventions to address the challenges and opportunities associated with its aging population.

By drawing on proven experiences from other jurisdictions and adapting them to Ghana’s unique realities, aging can be approached not as a looming crisis but as an opportunity to build a society where older persons can live with dignity, purpose, and care.

Conclusion
Old age is not a destination reserved for a few unfortunate people. It is the road upon which every living person is travelling. The elderly you see today were once the vibrant youth who sacrificed sleepless nights, postponed their dreams, and endured countless hardships so that we could stand tall today. To abandon them in their twilight years is to forget the very roots that nourished us.

A society that does not value its older people denies its roots and endangers its future. Let us strive to enhance their capacity to support themselves for as long as possible and, when they cannot do so anymore, to care for them. –Nelson Mandela

The love, patience, and care we extend to them today are seeds we sow for the future. Let's care for the elderly with love and compassion, for age is a journey we all hope to undertake. Caring for the aged is not an act of charity; it is an act of love, gratitude, and a solemn reminder that every life deserves to age with dignity, peace, and warmth. If aging is a blessing, then dignity in old age must become a right, not a privilege reserved for the fortunate few.

Recommendation
Protecting the dignity of older persons in Ghana requires more than sympathy and occasional acts of charity. It requires deliberate legal reforms, institutional support, and a revival of the culture of care and respect that once characterised Ghanaian society. Growing old should not become a sentence to loneliness, neglect, or indignity. The following measures are therefore recommended.

Ghana can establish Community Active Ageing Centres in every district to support the well-being, dignity, and social inclusion of older persons. These centres should be deliberately designed as safe, accessible, and friendly spaces where elderly persons can regularly gather, interact, and participate in structured activities with their peers.

Instead of aging in isolation at home, older persons would have the opportunity to engage in social interactions, fellowships, light physical exercises, cultural activities, storytelling, games, and other recreational programmes that promote mental stimulation and emotional well-being. Regular interaction with peers can significantly improve mental health outcomes and restore a sense of belonging and purpose.

Growing old brings unique health challenges. Such centres would also serve as platforms for emotional support and psychological care. Importantly, each centre should be staffed with trained medical personnel and social care workers, including nurses, counsellors, and community health officers.

These professionals would provide routine health monitoring such as blood pressure checks, basic medical screening, medication reminders, and referral services where necessary. This ensures that health challenges are identified early before they become severe or life-threatening.

A key feature of this model is that it should be affordable and sustainable, with older persons contributing a small subsidised fee where possible, while government and district assemblies provide the main financial and infrastructural support. The objective is not to commercialise aging but to ensure dignity through shared responsibility and sustainability.

Alternatively, it is recommended that, in the event of limited central government capacity to fully fund and implement the programme, Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) should take proactive steps to sensitise their communities on the importance of the initiative and introduce appropriate local levies to support the implementation of this critical and beneficial project. Financial and material support for the project may be obtained through sponsorship from corporate organisations, religious bodies, and private organisations.

Many elderly persons suffer emotional, physical, and financial abuse at the hands of relatives and caregivers. Others lose their properties because they are weak or unable to defend themselves. Parliament should enact an Older Persons Act to provide clear rights and obligations relating to healthcare, social security, housing, long-term care, protection from abuse, and access to justice.

Such legislation should criminalise elder abuse and neglect and establish mechanisms for reporting and responding to cases involving vulnerable elderly persons. Public awareness campaigns should educate families and communities about the rights of older persons and the consequences of abuse and neglect.

Government and private health institutions should develop home-based care services in which trained personnel periodically visit older persons living alone or experiencing mobility challenges. An elderly person who falls in his or her home should not have to wait for hours before receiving assistance.

In addition, a dedicated transport service could be introduced to provide daily transportation for older persons with mobility difficulties to and from the proposed community centres at a modest fee. Such a system would enable them to participate in social, recreational, and wellness activities with their peers while reducing social isolation and loneliness. Together, these interventions would promote active aging, enhance the quality of life of older persons, and ensure that they remain connected to their communities.

Faith-based communities should ensure that those who spent decades serving God are not forgotten when age weakens their bodies. Some congregations have already taken commendable steps by organising exercise sessions and providing free medical screenings for older persons, including checks for blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and body mass index (BMI).

Such initiatives should be encouraged and expanded to promote healthy and dignified aging. Employers should organise programmes that prepare workers for life after retirement, emphasising financial planning and savings, social engagement, health management, and the importance of maintaining meaningful relationships.

Government alone cannot replace the family. Children must remember that the parents who now walk slowly once carried them in their arms. The hands that tremble today once fed them. The eyes that struggle to see today once stayed awake throughout the night whenever they were sick.

Visiting parents should not be reserved for funerals. A simple phone call, a short visit, a conversation, or spending time together may mean more to an elderly parent than expensive gifts. Many older persons do not complain because they need money. They complain because they miss companionship. Retirement should not become a transition from usefulness to loneliness.

Source: Alex Boateng

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