Author Identifier (ORCID)
Obed Adonteng-Kissi: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9324-7138
Abstract
Traditional family-based care for older people in Ghana is declining as globalization and social change weaken historical support systems. This analysis is informed by a review of scholarly literature concerning the implications of globalization for the provision of caregiving for older people managing chronic life-limiting illnesses. We aimed to explore ways of strengthening social structures to enhancing the quality of lives of older people with chronic life-limiting illnesses in rural Ghana amongst 15 older people; 15 family caregivers; 10 healthcare professionals. Critical Social Theory (CST) functions as the primary theoretical framework for conducting an interrogation of the systemic structures that perpetuate social, economic, and political inequities. The average age of participants was 75 years. Ethnographic interviews were conducted after participatory observations during 6 months of fieldwork supported with daily fieldnote notes utilized to gather the needed data and purposively sampled across the study location. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and thematic analysis procedure used as the major data analysis approach to present the results. Our paper finds that the significant physical, financial, and emotional burden on family caregivers threatens the sustainability of informal care and proposes addressing these vulnerabilities by restructuring national policies to foster inclusivity and social justice for older people and their caregivers.
Keywords
chronic life-limiting illnesses, family-based care, older people, quality of life, rural
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
Publication Title
Journal of Progressive Human Services
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
School
School of Arts and Humanities
RAS ID
95205
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Adonteng-Kissi, B., & Adonteng-Kissi, O. (2026). Strengthening social structures to improve informal care for older people with chronic life-limiting illnesses in rural Ghana. Journal of Progressive Human Services. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10428232.2026.2674404