Self-Directed Female Migration in Ghana: Health and Wellness of Elderly Family Caregivers Left Behind. An Ethnographic Study.

Solina Richter,Patience Aniteye,Kimberly Jarvis,Vida N Yakong,Helen Vallianatos

doi:10.3390/ijerph17218127

Abstract

Driven by the global economic crisis, families are developing strategies for survival, including self-directed female migration. Female migration has negative and positive impacts on families in rural areas. The purpose of the project was to explore the health and wellness experiences of elderly family caregivers who have female family members who have migrated to improve the status of their families. In this focused ethnographic study, we interviewed elderly family members who had a female family member who migrated outside their community for employment. Participants were enrolled from northern Ghanaian communities known to be economically disadvantaged in comparison to their southern counterparts. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and translated into English. Data were analyzed based on thematic content. Majors themes that emerged were reasons for children leaving their families; physical, emotional, and spiritual health; and social and economic struggles. Challenges of family care work undertaken by the elderly in families with emigrated female kin strongly also emerged as a theme. New contextual knowledge was developed about the impact of self-directed female migration on the health and wellness of elderly family caregivers. The information is valuable for the development of culturally appropriate social support and health practices for female migrants and their families.

Highlights

Driven by the global economic crisis, families are developing a variety of strategies for survival, including self-directed female migration [1]
Using intersectionality as a framework uncovers the sources of oppression faced by families who decide to have their female family members migrate for economic reasons
Our study focused on the wellness experiences of the elderly family members left behind when female members decided to migrate for work purposes

Summary

Introduction

Driven by the global economic crisis, families are developing a variety of strategies for survival, including self-directed female migration [1]. Women increasingly make decisions about migrating and organizing their work rather than consider family decision-making processes. The feminization of migration is a clear trend within migration in the last few decades. More women migrate to obtain work and support their families [2]. The migration is mostly from rural to urban areas and, in the African context, migration is a family matter that includes sending payments by migrants to their families [3]. When little attention is paid to the social determinants of health (SDOH), it has great consequences for female migrants and their families, the wellness of elderly family members that stay behind

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