Roles of Households, Communities, State and Non-State Actors in Providing Social Support for Reliable Health Care Financing of the Elderly in Ibadan, Nigeria

An ever-growing proportion of the elderly in Nigeria’s population over the last two decades has resulted in the need for a reliable social support system. We therefore examine the roles of households, communities, state and non-state actors in providing social support for reliable health care financing of the elderly. The study adopted exploratory sequential mixed methods research design to collect primary data on the roles of stakeholders in providing social support for reliable health care financing in old age. Data were collected from 32 key informants and 430 respondents in Ibadan, Nigeria. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis and quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results demonstrated that all elderly, either fully or partially, paid for their health care services through unreliable out-of-pocket health care financing. Additionally, the results revealed that though elderly persons largely expected to receive social support for health care mostly from state actors, household members, non-state actors and community members, the reality seemed to be that they received the least support from state actors, community members, non-state actors and household members in that order. Furthermore, the results showed that the government’s instrumental support was highly coveted and seemed to be the last hope for vulnerable elderly persons. The study concluded that concerted efforts are required to provide adequate social support for the elderly and for healthy ageing. Also, policies that will ensure the reliability of health care financing should be enforced in order to reduce health inequality in old age.