Abstract
Introduction: The absence of comprehensive supports systems for older persons in Nigeria has put them on psychosocial challenges at old age. Thus, this study profiled the social supports provided by the adults to older persons in Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria.Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized mixed method approach to administer a standardized questionnaire among 460 consented adults who had older parents, and conducted twelve in-depth interviews (IDIs) among male and female participants in Apete, a peri-urban community in Ibadan, Nigeria. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed respectively using SPSS ver. 20 and content analysis.Results: Most (67.2%) of the respondents were females, and 77.2% were not living with their older parents. Older parents of 32.4% of the respondents relied on children as a source of income, whereas nearly half (47.0%) of the respondents perceived the care of the elderly as government responsibility. Financial care (48.5%) from significant others was perceived the most unmet social needs of the elderly, while lack of money (44.6%) was perceived the cause of the unmet social needs of the elderly. There was significant relationship (χ2 = 0.056) between the average monthly income and the time frame the children give money to older parents.Conclusion: There exist social supports to the elderly in peri-urban Nigeria. The social support systems available to the elderly were influenced by the culture, blessing/prayer-needs from parents, and reciprocity factors.
Highlights
The absence of comprehensive supports systems for older persons in Nigeria has put them on psychosocial challenges at old age
The age distribution revealed that two-fifth (43.7%) of the respondents fell within the age bracket of 25-29 years, while 8.3% of the respondents fell within 55-59 years
This study showed that gender does not determine the time frame by which the children render instrumental social supports to their aged parents
Summary
The absence of comprehensive supports systems for older persons in Nigeria has put them on psychosocial challenges at old age. This study profiled the social supports provided by the adults to older persons in Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria. Older parents of 32.4% of the respondents relied on children as a source of income, whereas nearly half (47.0%) of the respondents perceived the care of the elderly as government responsibility. The social support systems available to the elderly were influenced by the culture, blessing/prayer-needs from parents, and reciprocity factors. The population of the elderly continues to rise This is attributed to the improvement in health care facilities, technology, elderly nutrition and establishment of organizations, and policies that cater for the needs of the aged. Afghanistan, for instance, has no pension to those not in the government[4] and, while Nigeria situation is similar for the elderly where comprehensive social support is not available.[5]
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