CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

In the developed countries like North America, Europe Japan, Australia, Italy, the ageing population is one of the key issues that have consistently featured on the development agenda. The unprecedented phenomenon which occurs when the median age of a Country or region increases, due to rising life expectancy and or declining birth rates.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), (2012) has a momentous trend for most countries. Longer life expectancy is generally regarded as a key indicator to improved health status of the population.

The age group of sixty years old and older is growing faster than any other age group, with this remarkable increase of older adults,promoting health and well-beingbecomes a priority foraging people. As people live longer and begin to have health challenges, provision of care and support becomes more important.

Literature on family care and support for the aged has consistently found out that all societies engaged in some level of intergenerational relationships. Most of these literatures confirm that throughout the developing world, the family has been the key institution for the aged, their living arrangements as well as a determinant of their well-being.

In traditional African societies like Cameroon, intergenerational relationships exist where the younger and older generation lives in sustained mutual cooperation and coordination that benefit members of each of these generations. The younger generation sees the aged as those who are weak, need care and support from the younger generation.

Population ageing is not a new phenomenon in Africa. (Eggericks, Tabutin, 2001). In most African countries, it became clear from the early 1980s, efforts are put to reduce mortality, which had long concerned mainly early ages of life, began to bear fruit in the last third of the human life although fertility was still high. (Martin and Kinsella 1994).

Indeed, African countries like most developing countries are engaged in age transition since the second half of the 20th century. This transition is characterized by a reduction in the youngest age groups, resulting in the relative decline in fertility and an increase in adult and old classes, consequences of gains in life expectancy.

This demographic transition is also caused in most cases by government policies and health programs supported by international or voluntary organizations and takes place over a short period. (Mveng, Fomekong, 2012).

The rapid increase in the number of elderly couples, however, the devastating effects of certain pandemics like HIV / AIDS, malaria…. (Noumbissi, 2010). However what characterizes this continent is much more the nature of the phenomenon that its size. Indeed, the proportion of older people still remains low in Africa today.

A 2013 study by the Central African Economic Commission and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights found that just 10 percent of Cameroonians have social insurance plans that help take care of them in their old age.

Richard (2011), director of the nongovernmental organization Ecumenical Service for Peace, says it is imperative for the government to take care of the needs of the elderly.

In Cameroon the elderly represent recently an increasingly important proportion of the general population. (Akam, 2003). Three quarters of this population are or still serve as household heads. This changing demographic structure has a certain impact on the solidarity between generations and especially on the living conditions and well-being of the populations.

The economic, financial, food crisis, and the structural adjustment programmes have aggravated the problems of the elderly, without having, for compensation, provided the corresponding benefits for other age groups.

However, Cameroon has been so far more concerned by the youthfulness of its population and its consequences (social, economic and political). However, control of reproduction through family planning programs and a significant reduction of maternal and infant mortality gradually affect the ageing population, causing problems related to ageing thereof.

This also constitutes a factor of change in family structure functioning and inter-generational solidarity that accompanies it.

These aged people live longer due to the type of nutrition, better health care services, home nurses, good living conditions provided by the government and other organizations. The fast-growing number of older adults during the last few decades has impacted significantly on the political, economic, and social functions of societies in both industrialized and developing regions.

During the past decades, the developing countries have started improving the lives of their citizen especially from birth where different vaccinations are given to young children to combat child mortality rate and fight against future diseases.

These vaccines are to immunize the system in order to withstand sickness in the later life hence a better longer life is given to people. Their living conditions, health care services, nutrition, sanitation has also improved the developing countries standard of living hence, an increase in the number of aging people.

Cameroon  has the smallest proportion of elderly and which is ageing slower than the developed regions, is projected to see the absolute size of its older population grows by 2.3 times between 2000 (UNDESA, 2015) to 2020.

People are living longer because of better nutrition, sanitation, health care, education, and economic well-being. An ageing population poses numerous social and economic challenges. Longer life expectancy is generally regarded as a key indicator of improved health status of the population.

Institutionally, many ministerial departments (namely: public health, labour and social security public service and administrative reform, economy and finance, social affairs, women empowerment and family) cooperate to promote the dignity and to the valorization of the elderly

. The social insurance system in Cameroon is founded on two main schemes based on compulsory social contributions.   The state pension scheme, covers public service workers, state agents 59 and the assembles 60 and the National Social Insurance Fund (CNPS) Scheme covers workers in the private/or Para public sector who must be enrolled to CNPS by their employers.

In spite of the socio-economic and political changes originating from social organizations, the elderly represents an asset/relief in most families and communities but some are abandoned. 

it is often perceived as hinge to health and social security systems as longer lives are commonly associated with a prevalence of chronic diseases and  poverty which takes a heavy toll on the social development of the aged (World Health Organization (WHO), 2000). 

However care increasingly remains a principal challenge for elderly men and women especially in societies like Cameroon with institutional support (Krsyzzowski and Mucha, 2014). In 2020 the population of the country is 26,545,863 and in 2019 the population was 25,876,380 (DHS 2019).

The results of successive censuses of Cameroon (2011, 2013 and 2017) show that the total population of Cameroon is growing around 2,8% per year. Mortality remains high but down significantly. In the light of the census of 2005, the crude death rate decreased from 13.7 per thousand in 1987 to 10.8 per thousand in 2005.

Infant mortality has also declined significantly since 1987. It decreased from 74 per thousand in 2004 to 62 per thousand in 2011 (DHS 2004, 2011). This growth has brought with it many social, political, and economic challenges and those problems associated with health in older ages.

This makes old age to be perceived as a problematic phase of life. As people live longer and begin to have health challenges, provision of care and support becomes more important. Literature on family care and support for the aged has consistently found out that all societies engaged in some level of intergenerational relationships(Kouamé, 2009).

Most of these literatures confirm that throughout the developing world, the family has been the key institution for the aged, their living arrangements as well as a determinant of their well-being.

In traditional African societies like Cameroon, intergenerational relationships exist where the younger and older generation lives in sustained mutual cooperation and coordination that benefit members of each of these generations.

The younger generation sees the aged as those who are weak, need care, and support from the younger generation. It is not surprising that in Cameroon, the old-old are not allowed to engage in hard work.

In Cameroon there is a strong relationship between the aged and the younger adults. This relationship does not necessarily have to be familial as they cut across families and communities.                        

A 2013 study by the Central African Economic Commission and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights found that just 10 percent of Cameroonians have social insurance plans that help take care of them in their old age.

Richard, (2009), director of the nongovernmental organization Ecumenical Service for Peace, says it is imperative for the government to take care of the needs of the elderly. Sadly, values associated with old age changes in Cameroon.

While young family caregivers perception towards the aged are changing, the effectiveness of the traditional caring system is also being compromised because of the ways old age and the aged are perceived by young family members.

The change in perception of old age and the aged has been attributed by scholars to the effects of modernization, urbanization and Western influence. The ageing and aged have focused on individual differences in perceptions of aging mostly in Western cultures (Giles et al.2003, Hummert, 2007].

In  the Bafang division, there are different classes of elderly people with majority of them have to meet the economic, health, psychological, and material well-being, especially as traditional family support systems for the elderly are breaking down and disappearing in the country (Okoye, 2012).

Apart from the decline in fertility, improved health and sanitary conditions have also contributed to the rise in life expectancy. Ageing causes people to be less active, frail, and exposed to more risks of contracting a disease, leading to prejudice or discrimination against the elderly, social isolation, and, sometimes abandonment.

They are people who spent their lives working to build a country and don’t think it is good for the country to abandon them when they are at old age.Still, some elderly say they are being abandoned by family members when they begin to succumb to health issues.

“When they leave work and they go back to the village, they don’t have what they need to take care of themselves, especially those who did not prepare towards their old age, Rosaline (2014) said “we are trying to see how we make a society that is inclusive, that will make everybody feel comfortable.”

1.2 Statement of the Research Problem

The major challenge facing the Cameroon government is their failure of developing trained officials capable of understanding and responding to the current social priorities and complex needs of an increasingly ageing population.

The ageing of populations across the nation is a demographic reality of our times.The proportion of elderly (60 and over) remains low at around 5%. In 2011, the number of elderly is estimated at 1,015,979 people (RGPH, 2011).

With this remarkable increase of older adults; promoting health and well-being becomes a priority for aging people, healthy aging, positive aging, productive aging, active aging, and successful aging makes them comfortable.

In contrary, it is often perceived as hinge to health and social security systems as longer lives are commonly associated with a prevalence of chronic diseases and poverty which takes a heavy toll on the social development of the aged.

Ageing places stress on the individual, the family, as well as the society. A major source of pressure in Cameroon is the long-term failure of social institution to accommodate the increasing population who are elderly .

There is considerable strain in the labour force as young workers find their career blocked and some are forced to leave their jobs before they are ready to do so in order to care for the elderly.

The aged are unable to cope with their problems, as well as are unable to meet up with their basic needs. Hence giving people a negative impression about aging. In this light, this study seeks to find the problems associated with aging and how people perceive aging in Meme Division.

1.3 Research Questions

How does problems associated with aging affects people’s perception of aging?

 Specific research questions

1. How do health problems affect people’s perception of aging?
2. How do economic problems affect people’s perception of aging?
3. To what extent do social problems affect people’s perception of aging?

1.4 Hypothesis

Ho: There is no effect between problems associated with aging and peoples’ perception of aging.

H_A: There is an effect between problems associated with aging and peoples’ perception of aging.

 Specific Research Hypothesis

H1: There is no significant effect of health problems on peoples’ perception of aging.

H1: There is a significant effect of health problems on peoples’ perception of aging.

H₂: There is no significant effect of economic problems on peoples’ perception of aging.

H₂: There is a significant effect of economic problems on peoples’ perception of aging.

H₃: There is no significant of effect of social problems on peoples’ perception of aging.

H₃: There is a significant effect of social problems on peoples’ perception of aging.

General objective

The main objective of this study is to find out problems associated with aging and how people perceives aging in HAUT-NKAM

 Specific objectives

Specifically the study seeks to;

1. Examine how problems affect peoples’ perception of aging
2. Assess how Economic Problems affect peoples’ perception of aging
3. Evaluate the extent to which socials problems affect people’s perception of aging.

Evaluate problem affects people perception of aging