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Research Debate on ‘Older Carers and Work’ in Sub-Saharan Africa? Current Gaps and Future Frames

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Abstract

Scientific debate on the interface of work and caregiving responsibilities among older adults is intensifying, yet it has had little resonance in African aging discourses thus far. In this commentary we explore the nature and possible reasons for the gap, and highlight a possible frame, and potential avenues for redressing it as part of an emergent research and policy endeavor on long-term care for older persons.

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Notes

  1. Two paramount prior instruments are the United Nations Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (UN 2002) and the WHO Active Ageing Policy Framework (WHO 2002)

  2. SDG 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere – for all men and women; SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages; SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls; SDG 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all; SDG 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries, by promoting the social, political and economic inclusion of all, irrespective of age (UN 2015)

  3. Enshrined in the WHO constitution and subsequent rights accords including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Baer et al. 2016)

  4. Enshrined, for example in the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW 1979) and the Beijing Platform of Action on Women’s Empowerment, 1995.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Ms. Hilda Akinyi Owii, APHRC for her assistance in preparing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), Nairobi, Kenya

    Isabella Aboderin

  2. Optentia Research Focus Area, North West University, Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng, South Africa

    Isabella Aboderin & Jaco Hoffman

  3. Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Jaco Hoffman

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  1. Isabella Aboderin
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  2. Jaco Hoffman
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Correspondence to Isabella Aboderin.

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Aboderin, I., Hoffman, J. Research Debate on ‘Older Carers and Work’ in Sub-Saharan Africa? Current Gaps and Future Frames. J Cross Cult Gerontol 32, 387–393 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-017-9331-7

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