Negotiating eldercare in Akuapem, Ghana

Care-Scripts and the Role of Non-Kin

Bibliographic Data

ID2103199
AuthorsC Coe (0000-0003-2556-9781, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume87
Issue1
Pages137-154
Publication date2017-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0001-9720 • E-ISSN: 1750-0184
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0001972016000735
OpenAlexW3142238169
LanguageEN
Citations received26
References cited28

In contemporary Ghana, adult children are considered responsible for the care of aged parents. Within this idealized framework, two aspects of eldercare are overlooked. Firstly, such a narrative obscures the role of non-kin and extended kin in providing eldercare in southern Ghana historically and in the present. Secondly, it hides the negotiations over obligations and commitments between those who manage eldercare and those who help with an ageing person's daily activities. It is in this latter role that non-kin and extended kin are significant in eldercare, while closer kin maintain their kin roles through the management, financial support and recruitment of others. This article examines recruitment to eldercare and the role of kin and non-kin in eldercare in three historical periods: the 1860s, the 1990s and the 2000s, centred on Akuapem, in southern Ghana. In particular, I show that helping an aged person relies on previous and expected entrustments, in which more vulnerable, dependent and indebted persons are most likely to be recruited to provide care

Kinship · Narrative · Negotiation · Next of kin · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues · Anthropology · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Psychology

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