DEMENTIA IN GHANA: CARE OPTIONS AVAILABLE AND HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN BE USED TO PUBLICIZE THEM

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DEMENTIA IN GHANA: CARE OPTIONS AVAILABLE AND HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN BE USED TO PUBLICIZE THEM

Abstract

According to the 2010 census in Ghana, the population of the elderly grew by 87% between 1960 and 2010 (Ghana Statistical Service, 2013). With this growth in the number of elderly people, comes a higher number of occurrences of diseases that afflict the aged, such as dementia.

The objective of this thesis, is to find the care options available to the demented in Ghana, those actually being used by the families of the demented in Ghana, and ways by which technology can be used to publicize dementia and its care options in Ghana. Qualitative research was done using non- probability sampling to select respondents to partake in this study. Findings from this research were got by interviewing medical professionals, family members/guardians of the demented and experts in educating the public on various issues using technology in Ghana. All respondents targeted are based in Accra, the capital city of Ghana.

The findings show that there is a general ignorance on dementia plaguing Ghanaians which causes them to respond wrongly to people diagnosed with dementia. However, there are several care options available in Ghana for the demented. The main problem here is the lack of information about the care options available which makes it difficult for families with demented members to access them. Also, technology experts say that technology will serve as a great medium to publicize dementia and its care options in Ghana, however, success is based on which segment of people are targeted as recipients of the messages. Technologies that can be used for the publication range from mass media such as radios to processor- embedded devices such as Virtual Reality tools.

Keywords: Dementia, caregivers, Alzheimer’s, aged, mental illness, old people’s homes, medical technology

Table of content

Declaration Page……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. i

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………………………………… ii

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… iii

List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. vi

List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………… 1

Motivation……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 1

Background…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 1

Research Topic……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3

Objective of Research…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4

Research Questions……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4

Research Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5

Relevance of Research………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5

Organizational Outline…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………………………………….. 7

Dementia and the Aged………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 7

Care for the Demented…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 9

Technology in Dementia…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 13

Technology and Educating Society…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 15

Chapter Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 16

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………………………………… 18

Objective of the Research………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 18

Research Questions…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 18

Research Design………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 18

Scope of Research……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 20

Method/Procedure………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 21

Summary of Respondents………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 24

Data Collection Tools…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 27

Research Ethics…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 28

Reliability and Validity……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 28

Data Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 29

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS……………………………………………………………………………………….. 30

Analysis of Data and Discussion of Results……………………………………………………………………………………………… 30

Dementia in Ghana………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 30

Objective 1: Care Options Available to the Demented in Ghana………………………………………………………. 32

Objective 2: Care Options being Used  by Families in Ghana for their Demented Patients 36

Objective 3: Technology and how it can be Used to Publicize Dementia and its Care

Options in Ghana……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 41

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………… 47

Recommendations……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 48

Limitations………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 49

Areas for Further Research………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 50

REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 51

Interviews…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 56

APPENDICES……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 58

Appendix A- Dementia Test Figures…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 58

Appendix B- Data collection tools…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 59

List of Tables

Table 1: Summary of technologies, discussed above, used to publicize medical information Table 2: Research sample

Table 3: Details of respondents

Table 4: Summary of Technology to be Used to Publicize Dementia and its Care options in Ghana

List of Figures

Figure 1: Summary of respondents

Figure 2: Summary of Care Options Available to the Demented in Ghana

Figure 3: Summary of Care Options Used by Family Members of the demented in Ghana Figure 4: Summary of Care Options Used by Family Members of the demented in Ghana (TagCrowd)

Figure 5: Summary of Technology to be Used to Publicize Dementia and its Care options in Ghana

Figure 6: Drawing made by doctor for patient to replicate Figure 7: Demented person’s “replica” of Figure 6 above

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Motivation

The motivation for this topic initially stemmed from conversations I had with a few medical personnel about the elderly and various diseases they suffer from when I was looking for some sort of community service to engage in after high school. However, in 2014, my motivation and mere interest peaked when my father was diagnosed with dementia. Excluding the basic care advice given by the doctor on what to expect and how to handle him, finding care options was a difficult task that lasted for many months. After a few conversations with some of my peers who had family members with dementia in Ghana, I realized that the problem my family faced in finding care options was not peculiar to us. With this information, finding a solution to this difficulty would be highly beneficial to families with dementia patients as well as families who have never heard of dementia.