The Nexus between Public Perception of the Elderly Person’s Self Efficacy and the Uptake of Institutionalised Care for the Elderly in Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to determine the public perception of self-efficacy of the older people to take care of themselves. It was also intended to determine the factors influencing the uptake of formal care services in Kenya. The study engaged 400 respondents from Nakuru County, who were selected through purposive and stratified random sampling. Data was collected using questionnaires and in-depth interviews. The results reveal that indeed the level of awareness of the existence of the formal care services in Kenya is very low and that majority of the interviewed respondents were reluctant to enrol their relatives to the formal care homes. The result further indicates that health and the psychosocial status of the older people influence the decision of the members of the community interviewed to enrol the older relatives in formal care homes. It emerged from the results that the majority of the people declined the use of the services despite agreeing that their older relatives faced challenges that would warrant their enrolment for the services. We, therefore, recommend that a marketing plan for the services to be designed with an inherent system societal perception re-engineering so that a positive attitude towards services be formed. Psychosocial therapy provision should also be a key service of the care services since it emerged that older people suffering neglect and abuse were the most likely to be enrolled where there’s the availability of services.