title: Care of the elderly: survey of teaching in an aging sub-Saharan Africa.
abstract: In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a rapidly aging population is presenting challenges to health care systems. Doctors need specialized knowledge to be prepared for the increase in age-related medical conditions. This study aims to investigate the current provision of geriatrics education (GE) in SSA medical schools and discover some of the barriers faced in its implementation. Questionnaires were sent to a list of medical schools in SSA, supplied by the sub-Saharan African Medical Schools Study. Responses were received from 25/135 institutions (19%), representing 11 countries in SSA. Of these institutions, 4% taught geriatrics and 40% had no geriatrics teaching. The largest perceived barriers to GE were a lack of staff expertise (72%), lack of funding (52%), and absence of geriatrics in the national curricula (48%). There are still a large number of medical schools in SSA who do not teach geriatrics. Improvements in GE should be implemented through local approaches and national policy, while appreciating the cultural context and economic constraints of each country to prepare future doctors for the increasing challenges of an aging population.
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Medical Sciences , Newcastle University , Newcastle Upon Tyne , UK.
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Frost
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liddie Navarro
authors.forename: Maeve
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orcutt
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trelfa
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dotchin
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D000368:Aged; D003479:Curriculum; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005853:Geriatrics / Q000193:education*; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019456:Health Transition; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Africa; aging; education; elderly; geriatrics; geriatrics education