In Ghanaian local communities, older people experience significant neglect and abuse. This is because of ageist perceptions that unfairly characterise older people as possessed by evil spirits, demons, witchcraft, or sorcery ¬– solely based on their age. These misconceptions are the fundamental basis for older people’s neglect, abuse, and mistreatment in Ghana. In some cases, older persons are chased with machetes and are slain. This kind of inhumane treatment towards older people is what Roberta Adutwumwaah Ntem fights for, starting in her home country of Ghana.
Roberta Adutwumwaah Ntem is the co-founder and CEO of the Good Old Age Golden Foundation (GOAgF), which is a civil society organization that seeks to educate local community members on ageing and the changes that it can bring. Through the GOAgF, Roberta Adutwumwaah Ntem works to raise awareness about ageism and promote intergenerational contact between younger and older people. The GOAgF also works to provides local older people with substantive assistance such as health care support through public health outreaches, and the provision of walking aids and assistance to help older people reach hospitals when they are ill.
But it was during the COVID-19 pandemic that Roberta Adutwumwaah Ntem and the GOAgF were needed most of all, when older people faced challenging situations not only due to being at greater risk of contracting and being negatively impacted by the disease, but also due to the pandemic’s exacerbation of ageist attitudes. To support older people, Roberta Adutwumwaah Ntem through the GOAgF initiated the ‘COVID-19 Support for the Aged’ campaign to educate older people in their homes about the virus, how it spreads, the need for them to stay home; sew about 1,000 nose masks which were then distributed freely to older people in and around Cape Coast, Ghana; and produce hand sanitisers, hand soaps, and resources packages containing food, water, and other necessities by hand for older people who could not afford them.
Roberta Adutwumwaah Ntem’s work through the GOAgF is limited in funding, and often financed by her own earnings from other ventures. Nonetheless, her work is a shining exemplar of the impact that local work can have even within constrained situations, and points to the importance of fostering healthy ageing across all regions of the world.