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Care taking of Elderly Persons in Tanzania is an issue that needs more attention now than it used to be some decades ago. The traditional values and social economic changes affects directs Elderly Persons care and support especially disintegration of Extended family tie and strong support, roles/responsibilities. The disintegration is due to globalization process that erodes family detachment to Elderly Persons. This study was purposely aimed at finding out the problem of care taking of the Elderly Persons (60+ years) and the challenges involved in provision of material and social support while the main aim was to identify first people caring Elderly Persons. Three research questions guided this study focused on; responsible people to care Elderly Persons, challenges involved in providing care to Elderly Persons materially and socially, the situation of Elderly Persons and the importance of caring them and the possible way forward to the challenges mentioned for better livelihood of the Elderly Persons. The study area was BugeneNyaishozi division in Karagwe district chosen because of its realistic of being rural communities in Tanzania and researcher's knowledge on the local language spoken easy to acquire information. The subjects were Elderly Persons with 60+years and Caregivers only and 59 participants were interviewed through purposive and interview was the major research instrument of this study which was supported by documentary review from related books and previous studies. The research was analyzed qualitatively by using categorical method and tabular method was used to present the findings before explanation. The study findings revealed that, there are responsible people to take care of Elderly Persons although they are facing a lot of problems which need immediate solution for quality care. Family, children of Elderly Persons and Government were reported as major responsible people to take care of Elderly Persons although inadequate of basic needs, low income and low support from the Government restrict provision of quality care to Elderly Persons and morale to do this important work. Some do not perform it at all, not because of their will but their incapability economically and limited time. The study recommendation focused on the improvement of support, cooperation and provision of social universal pension to all Elderly Persons regardless of their employment types formal/ informal. Also the creation of Elderly Persons education on the importance of care and support was positively recommended to people in the community. |
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