- Title
- The roles and capacities of social workers in the lives of older adults seeking healthcare and their caregivers in Ghana
- Creator
- Awuviry-Newton, Kofi; Tavener, Meredith; Wales, Kylie; Byles, Julie
- Relation
- Health and Social Care in the Community Vol. 29, Issue 4, p. 877-888
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13121
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2021
- Description
- As Ghana's older population increases in number and proportion, the social and healthcare needs of older adults and their caregivers become more critical highlighting the relevance of social workers’ contribution in assisting older adults and their caregivers. The purpose of this study was to explore social workers’ contributions, discussed against the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) Policy on Ageing and Older Person framework. The study employed a descriptive qualitative approach making use of semi-structured interviews to collect information from eight social workers at the Social Welfare Unit in Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Ghana. Themes and codes were developed from the interviews using thematic analysis, employing In-vivo and descriptive coding, and N-Vivo v12 as a management tool. Analysis of interviews revealed three interrelated themes; (a) “We provide it accordingly”: Talking about their contributions as systematic, (b) “I think we can do more”: Talking about their contributions as insufficient, and (c) “Our efforts are being hampered”: Complaints of inadequate resources for working with older adults and their caregivers. The study offers areas of opportunities for social workers per the IFSW policy framework to reflect and examine their current knowledge and skill to address the challenges population ageing presents in Ghana. While social workers contribute towards helping older adults seeking healthcare and their caregivers, their needs cannot be ignored. The findings draw attention to effective policies and programs that can provide social workers with the needed resources to be independent and be able to devise novel approaches unique to older adults and their caregivers.
- Subject
- caregivers; descriptive qualitative; Ghana; health social work; healthcare; older adults; SDG 1; SDG 17; Sustainable Development Goals
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1475198
- Identifier
- uon:49478
- Identifier
- ISSN:0966-0410
- Rights
- This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Awuviry-Newton, Kofi; Tavener, Meredith; Wales, Kylie; Byles, Julie. “The roles and capacities of social workers in the lives of older adults seeking healthcare and their caregivers in Ghana”. Health and Social Care in the Community Vol. 29, Issue 4, p. 877-888 (2021), which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13121. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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