Socio-Cultural Barriers to Comprehensive Healthcare among the Elderly Population in Kenya

Abstract

Globally there is a growing population of the elderly both in rural and urban setting. The healthcare system in Kenya is tailored towards curative services, demerits the elderly in need of rehabilitative care. However, gerontology a field of interest to the aging populations, has not received the urgent attention from both the national and county governments. Compounded with the already existing socio-cultural barriers to quality healthcare there is increased morbidity and poor quality of life. This paper highlights the socio-cultural barriers to comprehensive healthcare services among the elderly population in Kenya. The study employed a descriptive qualitative approach to conduct the study in Nandi County in Kenya. Data was collected and analyzed through a combination of focused ethnography and grounded theory respectively. Data was collected through use of unstructured interviews, participant observation and focused group discussions. The study highlighted aspects of socio-cultural barriers to comprehensive healthcare among the elderly population: Culturally determined gender roles and expectations, religious embedded beliefs and practices, child/parent expectations, lack of sufficient health resources and relevant geriatric knowledge among the healthcare providers, community cultural beliefs and perceptions on growing old, lack of self-care and self-determination for self-management play a role on the success of geriatric. It is recommended that health care policies and services targeting the elderly in Kenya, should be crafted while putting into consideration the cultural differences and expectations of the elderly population. There is also need to establish rural retirement homes for the elderly to demystify the suspicious children /parents cultural expectations.