Institutionalised Care and Caregiving Services for the Elderly in the Padre Pio Rehabilitation Centre, Ahotokurom

Abstract

The concept of institutionalised care is gradually being accepted as an alternative source of care for the elderly in Ghana. Institutionalised homes exist to provide care for the elderly, yet many studies on care homes in Africa, including Ghana have neglected the needs of the elderly and the adequacy of care given by care homes. This is a study exploring the adequacy of the caregiving services provided by the Padre Pio Rehabilitation Centre (PPRC) in the Central region of Ghana, in addressing the medical, economic, psychological, and physiological needs of its elderly residents. An explorative research design was employed for the study. Evidence was gathered through participant observation and semi-structured interviews with residents, caregivers and family members over two weeks. The narratives from the data were organised into three central themes: the needs of the elderly (medical, economic, psychological and physiological), the kinds of services provided by the PPRC and the adequacy of care services offered by the PPRC. The study found that medical needs are the most occurring need, followed by psychological and economic, physiological being the least among the needs of the elderly in the PPRC. The findings revealed that the physiological and medical needs of the elderly residents were adequately provided by the PPRC. However, there was a limit to the ability of PPRC to provide all the economic needs of the elderly residents. The study concludes that the PPRC serves as the primary provider of adequate care for the elderly residents amidst its economic challenges. The study recommends the PPRC be supported by state institutions and other organisations, including NGOs.