Institutional Care for the Elderly at Bumhudzo: Meeting Residents' Individual Needs in the Face of Diversity?

Institutional care for elderly people is increasingly being favoured compared to community care in most developing countries. Many reasons abound for this shift ranging from collapse of traditional forms of care for elderly people because of breakdown of the extended family caused by impacts of colonialism, urbanisation and the increasing geographical spread of relatives. On the other hand institutional care is accused of disregarding individual needs of residents in the name of efficiency. This book is a study of institutional care for the elderly at Bumhudzo Hospital Home in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe. The aim of the research was to examine whether institutional care for the elderly recognizes and takes into consideration the individual needs of the elderly in its care. At Bumhudzo these individual needs arise as a result of the elderly's differences along age,gender, nationality,class and religious background. Emphasis is on understanding the different strategies that the residents as individuals employ in attempts to ensure that their needs are met at Bumhudzo. This book will be useful to those in Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work and associated caring professions.