An ethnographic study of the well-being of elderly people in a matrilineal society in Malawi, Africa

Abstract

An ethnographic study of 30 elderly men and women was done in a matrilineal group in Malawi, a small landlocked country in southeastern Africa, with the purpose of determining how societal change influences the well-being of the elderly. The study was carried out on the outskirts of the capital city and in a rural area so as to draw a comparison on societal change.

Well-being was defined as the subjective evaluations of personal life experiences in terms of health and functional status and access to resources (George & Bearon, 1980). A theoretical framework that combined symbolic interaction, social exchange and modernization theories was used in order to get a larger understanding of human relationships at both the micro and macro levels. The combination of exchange theory and symbolic theory has been suggested by other researchers (Mancini & Blieszner, 1989 & Mutran & Reitzes, 1984).

Qualitative data analysis method was adapted from McCracken (1988). The purpose of the analysis was to develop themes of logical interpretation of the respondents view of well-being. Four interrelated themes emerged in the study as affecting the well-being of the elderly. Societal change had the most influence with presence of biological children, socio-economic status of adult children and gender of adult children as the other themes. Societal change was occurring even in rural areas such that the extended family which traditionally provided care to elders, is seen to be shifting its responsibility to biological children. Results also showed that environmental factors such as drought and inflation also affect the well-being of the elderly.

This study was the first documented gerontological study in Malawi. It is hoped that the results will generate interest at the action, policy and research levels. Therefore recommendations were made as to future research.