Resilience in the face of post-election violence in Kenya: the mediating role of social networks on wellbeing among older people in the Korogocho informal settlement, Nairobi

Bennett, R., Chepngeno-Langat, Gloria, Evandrou, Maria and Falkingham, Jane (2014) Resilience in the face of post-election violence in Kenya: the mediating role of social networks on wellbeing among older people in the Korogocho informal settlement, Nairobi. British Society for Gerontology Annual Conference 2014, , Southampton, United Kingdom. 01 - 03 Sep 2014.

Abstract

Whilst the majority of the population of urban sub-Saharan Africa are of working age, recent research has shown that many of the rural-urban migrants who arrived in the 1970s and 1980s have remained in the informal settlements and are ageing ‘in situ’. The slums can be a daunting place to grow old, especially in the context of minimal government assistance for elders, pressures on traditional intergenerational support, and an increasingly hostile urban economy. Understanding the factors which enable older people to strive against adversity is important for designing policies and interventions to support their wellbeing. This paper examines the role of social networks as a protective factor in mitigating the impact of a shock, the Kenyan 2007/08 post-election violence, on older people’s self-rated health, life satisfaction and happiness in the Korogocho informal settlement, Nairobi. The post-election violence had a devastating impact on Nairobi’s slum communities and is used as a case study of an adverse event which posed a risk to wellbeing. The analyses uses data from a longitudinal survey of the wellbeing of older people nested within the Nairobi Urban Health and Demographic Surveillance System. The results show that maintaining or increasing formal local networks reduced the detrimental effects of the post-election violence for older people’s wellbeing, whilst household environment and informal local and non-local networks did not influence the relationship. Consequently supporting inclusive community organisations which are accessible to older people is valuable for promoting the resilience of elders in low resource urban settings

This record has no associated files available for download.

Contributors

Author: Gloria Chepngeno-Langat

Author: Maria Evandrou

Author: Jane Falkingham

Download statistics