An Investigation on health and quality of life, social support networks and societal challenges in intervening for the elderly in Kwale County, Kenya
Research Period: 2021-present
INVESTIGATORS AND INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Principal Investigator
Violet Wanjihia (Kenya Medical Research Institute- Centre for Public Health Research, Nairobi, Kenya)
Co-Principal Investigator
Ken Masuda (School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan)
Co-Investigators
Ryuji Yoshino (School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan)
Hideki Yamamoto (Graduate school of Public Health, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan)
Reiko Hayashi (National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, Tokyo, Japan)
Satoshi Kaneko (Department of Ecoepidemiology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan)
Haruko Noguchi (Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan)
Kaori Miyachi (Gender Equality Promotion Office, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka, Japan)
Satoko Horii (School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan)
Shinji Miyamoto (Department of Biosphere-Geosphere Science, Faculty of Biosphere-Geosphere Science, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan)
Morris Ndemwa (NUITM-KEMRI project, Kenya)
Betty Muriithi (NUITM-KEMRI project, Kenya)
Lilian Nyandieka (NUITM-KEMRI project, Kenya)
Background
The population of sub-Saharan Africa is progressively ageing owing to improvements in public health. Preliminary research in Kwale County, Kenya, observed that a large number of older persons live alone and in skipped-generation households, and most of them had some health issues.
Despite the growing population of older persons, research on their health and well-being in SSA, including in Kenya, remains limited. Therefore, further research on daily life, health status, and care networks among older persons in Kenya, especially in rural areas, is necessary to improve the health status and well-being of older persons.
The overall objective of this study was to describe the life, health, and care networks of older persons in Kwale County, Kenya, using an interdisciplinary approach. This study employed descriptive methods, combining a quantitative survey followed by qualitative in-depth interviews. The study participants will be residents aged 40 and above. HDSS dataset collected in 2021 was used to sample study participants. Data will be collected through household visits and face-to-face interviews and automatically entered through an Open Data Kit (ODK). In the qualitative strand, in-depth interviews are conducted with purposively selected informants using guides. All interviews were audio-recorded.
Quantitative Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel and STATA 16. The identified categorical variables were analyzed as counts (n) and percentages (%), and the means and medians for continuous variables were calculated. For qualitative data analysis, the audio-recorded data were transcribed and translated where necessary and subjected to context and thematic analysis processes. The care network among older persons will be analyzed based on predetermined themes. Ethics and science clearance will be obtained from the KEMRI-SERU. Additional permission to implement both quantitative survey and in-depth interviews will be obtained from county health departments. Written informed consent was obtained before data collection. Findings from the research will be disseminated by feedback to community representatives, county officers, and relevant stakeholders, and publication in peer-reviewed journals.
