Age enterprising: "Old" age on the make in Ghana

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Sociology of Aging
• African Studies

Background:

• Critiques of the US Aging Enterprise (AE) highlight policy serving professionals over older adults.
• AE interventions have been noted to limit gerontological imagination and frame aging as a social problem.
• Ghana presents a unique context with limited state investment in aging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the reach and adaptation of the AE in Ghana.
• To analyze aging policy and interventions across public and private sectors in Ghana.
• To propose and justify the term "age enterprising" for the Ghanaian context.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of aging policy and interventions in Ghana.
• Examination of initiatives within academic institutions, NGOs, churches, and markets.
• Integration of findings from two distinct research projects.

Main Results:

• The problem-focused discourse of the AE is not directly imported but locally adapted in Ghana.
• Age-related projects in Ghana often fail, particularly in the short term.
• Multiple, divergent "age enterprises" exist, lacking a unified or monolithic structure.

Conclusions:

• The term "age enterprising" better captures the contingent and contradictory nature of aging discourses in Ghana.
• Local adaptations and project failures challenge the direct applicability of the US AE model.
• Understanding aging in Ghana requires acknowledging diverse and often competing initiatives.