Dementia in Ghana: Care options available and how technology can be used to publicize them
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2017-04
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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.
Description
Thesis submitted to the Department of Business Administration, Ashesi University College, in partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems, April 2017
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Keywords
dementia, Ghana, elderly people, technology, care of elderly