File
Amosun S.L.1, Harris F.1
1University of Cape Town, Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Cape Town, South Africa
Background: The number of older persons (aged 60 years and older) in South Africa is projected to increase from an estimated 4.4 million in a population of approximately 55 million in 2015, and predicted to rise to 7 million in 2030.1 Although relatively small in comparison to developed countries, this upward trend requires careful planning for the future, especially in a multi-ethnic country that experiences a quadruple burden of diseases,2 where the lives of the people have been impacted by many years of apartheid in the form of inequities in social and health care, among others. The National Development Pan 2030 (NDP) is a detailed blueprint to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by the year 2030.3 One of the goals in the plan is to improve the health and wellbeing of the population, and thereby raise the average life expectancy to at least 70 years by 2030 from the current average life expectancy of 61.2 years. Based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) policy framework on active aging,4 community based, non-residential centres5 (Service Centres for Older Persons) are being established in different parts of country to enhance health and wellbeing into old age. The number increased from 385 in 19956 to over 1350 in 2013. Two hundred of the centres are located in the Western Cape Province, and the goal of government is to maximise functionality in older persons. An awareness of the characteristics of older persons in a community should inform the services provided by a service centre.
Purpose: As part of a national study exploring the characteristics of service centres and the members, this preliminary study explored the perceived needs of older persons in the Western Cape and the services provided by the centres they attended.
Methods: Forty one service centres were selected by stratified random sampling to ensure that the 5 districts and one metropole in the Province were represented. Qualitative interviews were conducted by trained research assistants with the managers and members of the centres.
Results: Thirty-five centres took part in the study, and all but one received government funding for operations. Three topmost needs of older persons perceived by the managers related to meals, socialisation, and blood pressure monitoring. The topmost perceived needs reported by members (n=625) related to their health - hypertension, arthritis, and diabetes. However, the three topmost services provided by the centres related to socialisation, maintaining functionality, and blood pressure screening.
Conclusion(s): The perceived needs of older persons are not being addressed currently. The differences in the domains of needs reported serve as indication for better planning to ensure that government funding to service centres is utilised to meet the needs of older persons.
Implications: The needs of older persons should be assessed objectively to cover all domains.
Funding acknowledgements: The Medical Research Council funded the national study on exploration of Service Centres for Older Persons
Topic: Older people
Ethics approval: Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of Cape Town; Ref 315/2014
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
