Care for Older Persons in Cameroon: Alternatives for Social Development

Abstract

Care increasingly remains a crucial facet in the lives of older persons in Africa including Cameroon. Despite its relevance to social development, providing apposite and effective care services to elderly men and women is still a major challenge in contemporary Cameroon. This is largely due to the weak institutional support system and poverty which estrange the elderly and jeopardizes their wellbeing. Deconstructing the current care system through the redesigning and implementation of age friendly policies will create substantial opportunities that will predispose the old, irrespective of gender to valued choices and quality lives. This paper describes the challenges experienced by the aged and examines the institutional framework for care with alternatives for social development. The study involved 31 elderly and employed an ethnographic survey design with interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation and documentary sources as instruments. Data was analyzed qualitatively and findings show that in as much as organizing the system from a multisectorial approach is imperative, the voices of elderly and the consistent provision of basic needs is also strategic to their social development.