Housing and the Creation of Security in Old Age by Rural Women of Ghana: A Development Perspective

Barbara R. Stucki is a research analyst In the Public Policy Institute at the American Association of Retired Persons. She deals with policy issues concerning long-term care needs ofolderpersons, with special smphssis on minority elders, persons with disabilities, and the family support network. Information for this paper was collected as part of dissertation research conducted in 1990-1991, funded by a Fulbright Scholarship and grants from the Wenner Gran Foundation for Anthropo­ logical Research and the Social Science Research Council. She also holds a master's degree from Washington State University and a bachelor's degree from the University ofGalifomia, Berkeley. in the field ofAnthropology. She maintains her focus on international development and aging as a member of the African Gerontological Society, the Society for International Development, and the Society for Cross-Cultural Research. The desire for adequate housing as the basis for security is shared by aging people throughout the world. This has led to the need for policies and programs that reinforce aspects of the residential environment which contribute to well-being in old age. In the United States, such programs have focused on the provision of commu­ nity services and increasing residential choices (see, for example, Lawton, 1989; Golant, 1992; deLaski-Smith, 1985). In most African countries, older persons have to rely on their family for support. Concern for older persons has focused on reinforcing the traditional ties that bind the generations (Adadevoh, 1985). As a consequence, in discussing housing and older women in West Africa, development plans must also include the dynamics of old age security and its implications for the design and implementation of housing policies.