Background

In Uganda, demographic changes have contributed to the increase in number of older persons. According to the 2014 national census, older persons (> 65 years) make up 4.2% of the total population (1.5 million) with over 80% residing in the rural areas. Co-residence of older persons with grandchildren in Uganda is common. Most of the households in Uganda are considered to be multi-generational, defined households consisting of older persons, their adult children and grandchildren living in the same homestead. However, the living arrangement of older persons in changing to living alone or with grandchildren.

Covid-19 has a significant impact on everyone’s lives, and people living in high- versus low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are likely to have different experiences of dealing with the corona virus outbreak and resulting restrictions on their daily lives. Older people are a particularly vulnerable population, who are facing high levels of self-isolation to not contract the virus.

What is the study about?

This study will enable building a novel collaboration between Liverpool (specifically the NIHR ARC NWC at the Institute of Population Health Sciences) and Uganda, with the African Research Centre for Ageing and Dementia (ARCAD), the leading sub-Saharan research centre on ageing and dementia. In an unprecedented time of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is important that we link up resources and strengths and knowledge across the globe to understand problems as a result of Covid-19 widely, whilst enabling high-quality research in LMIC.

With this study, we aim to explore the experiences of older people (aged 65 and above) living in Uganda to the Covid-19 related public health strategies. To date, we have no evidence on the effects of Covid-19 related public health strategies and changes to daily life in both the general population and in older adults, neither in high- nor in LMIC. Given that many older people in Uganda are moving towards living alone or with their grandchildren, whilst there are also many multi-generational households, this study will provide important insights into how Covid-19 related public health strategies, including self-isolation and service closures, affects older adults in different household circumstances.

As part of this fast-track study, researchers in Uganda at the ARCAD will be conducting up to 30 telephone interviews with older people within one month time, and interviews will be audio-recorded and translated from Swahili into English after transcription. The project will be submitted to the Makere University, School of Public Health Internal Review Board, for ethical review, and will take 1 week via fast-tracked ethics. Data will be analysed by both researchers (Dr Clarissa Giebel from the University of Liverpool and Dr Isaac Ddumba from the ARCAD), and written up for publication to a high-rank journal in the field. As part of this, we will ask for the paper to be fast-tracked through peer-review, to ensure that we will present (some of) the first findings on Covid-19 effects on older people in an LMIC. Findings will also be disseminated via social media and NIHR blogs and in Uganda via the ARCAD.

Findings will have significant implications globally, not just for Uganda, but for LMIC more generally, and will provide crucial first findings into this highly topical issue which is a current global public health priority.

Contact arcnwc@liverpool.ac.uk with any queries