Centre for Policy on Ageing



Community living for destitute older Zimbabweans: institutional care with a human face
Author(s)	R Mupedziswa
Journal title	Southern African Journal of Gerontology, vol 7, no 1, April 1998
Pages	pp 26-31
Keywords	Living with others ; Care homes ; Co-operative schemes ; Poor elderly ; Zimbabwe.
Annotation	Zimbabwe, like many other developing countries, has a relatively large number of destitute older people, lacking basic necessities such as shelter, food and clothing. Due to various reasons, including the lack of family assistance, it has become increasingly difficult to cater for this group of people. There is a shortage of residential care homes, and residential care has generally been viewed as being too expensive and not user-friendly. This paper describes the Melfort Farm Project, a pilot project on an "open" type of cooperative living for destitute older people, which was set up as an alternative to a conventional residential care home in 1979. The cooperative can accommodate 40 residents, both male and female. There is an emphasis on participation, both in decision making and in practical tasks, such as agricultural production and food preparation. (AKM).
Accession Number	CPA-980710406 A
Classmark	KA: KW: PMA: F:W6: 7NR
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.