Home Away From Home: The Emerging Forms Of Aged Care In The Urban Centres Of The Greater Accra Region Of Ghana

Population ageing is occurring in almost all the countries of the world (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2013, 2015). This numerical increase of older persons is a result of a demographic transition resulting from decreasing fertility and mortality, improved nutrition, reduction in infectious and parasitic diseases, as well as improvement in health care, education, and income (Mba, 2010a; Ghana Statistical Service, 2013; de-Graft Aikins et al., 2016). Population ageing has led to a relative reduction in the proportion of children and an increase in the share of working class persons and of older persons in the population (Mba, 2010a; United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2013; 2015). According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Report (2009), the population of older persons is growing at the rate of about 2.6% per year. This growth rate is considerably faster than that of the population as a whole, which is increasing at 1.2% annually. Globally, the percentage of older people aged 60 years and above increased from 9.2% in 1990 to 11.7% in 2013 and this growth is likely to continue (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2013). The 2015 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Report states that between 2015 and 2030, the number of people in the world aged 60 years or over is projected to grow by 56%, from 901 million to 1.4 billion, and by 2050, the global population of older persons is projected to be more than double its size in 2015, reaching nearly 2.1 billion (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2015, p.2). Oldest persons are projected to exceed the number of children for the first time in 2047 (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2013, p.xii). Population ageing is poised to become one of the most significant social transformations of the twenty-first century, with implications for nearly all sectors of society, including labour and financial markets, the demand for goods and services, such as housing, transportation and social protection, as well as family structures and intergenerational ties (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2015, p.1).