Family structures, women's empowerment and child health in Ghana
Lead Research Organisation:
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Department Name: Epidemiology and Population Health
Abstract
Child health is an important global and public health issue that is nested within sociocultural and economic contexts. Important is the family within which children belong to and how variation in family types imposes varying influence on child health and survival. In sub-Saharan Africa in general and Ghana in particular, cultural differences that follow lines of matrilinear and patrilinear patterns can reflect in family types and living arrangements and subsequently, child-care processes and child health outcomes. The current research focuses on the interrelationships linking various family types, child-care and child health outcomes in Ghana; further investigates the role of empowered women in such families; and whether being empowered is influential for their children's health or family dynamics has a potential of overpowering this empowerment influence. The evidence from this current research will contribute to the theoretical, conceptual and empirical context of families and child health. Using data from the Ghana Population and Housing Census, Demographic and Health Surveys, as well as the Navrongo Health and Demographic Surveillance System, the study adopts advanced quantitative methods comprising multilevel regression techniques, survival analysis and spatial analysis.
This research study is linked to one of the main priority areas of the Economic and Social Research Council - Innovation in health and social care. One of the focus areas of this priority area is to promote implementation research that engages a range of stakeholders in the uptake of innovative care in a complex and fragmented health and social care system. The contribution of families within this framework is key. While families can be important stakeholders, the dynamics associated with matrilinear and patrilinear patterns and child-care/health outcomes can be a guide toward designing appropriate child health interventions and identifying/incorporating key family-related social issues that if ignored, could serve as barriers in the implementation process, especially for developing countries such as Ghana. At the national level (for Ghana and other contexts with similar familial systems), findings from this study can be useful in enhancing child health interventions and educational programs to include family dynamics.
For this research and studentship, my personal skills priority has been centred on acquisition of quantitative skills. For my first year of the 1+3 route, I participated in the European Doctoral School of Demography (EDSD) and from this platform, I have received training on advanced quantitative methods and further gained computational knowledge and skills. More specifically, in proficiently using R for data analysis. The learning process continues, and more skills are required. I have put plans in place to enrol on courses at LSHTM that solves my additional quantitative needs. For instance, spatial analysis, which was not covered under the EDSD program. Additional courses on survival and Bayesian statistics will be taken in due course. All these will provide me with the quantitative skills needed not only to investigate my current research but also to position myself well for future career prospects.
Keywords: family, empowerment, child health.
This research study is linked to one of the main priority areas of the Economic and Social Research Council - Innovation in health and social care. One of the focus areas of this priority area is to promote implementation research that engages a range of stakeholders in the uptake of innovative care in a complex and fragmented health and social care system. The contribution of families within this framework is key. While families can be important stakeholders, the dynamics associated with matrilinear and patrilinear patterns and child-care/health outcomes can be a guide toward designing appropriate child health interventions and identifying/incorporating key family-related social issues that if ignored, could serve as barriers in the implementation process, especially for developing countries such as Ghana. At the national level (for Ghana and other contexts with similar familial systems), findings from this study can be useful in enhancing child health interventions and educational programs to include family dynamics.
For this research and studentship, my personal skills priority has been centred on acquisition of quantitative skills. For my first year of the 1+3 route, I participated in the European Doctoral School of Demography (EDSD) and from this platform, I have received training on advanced quantitative methods and further gained computational knowledge and skills. More specifically, in proficiently using R for data analysis. The learning process continues, and more skills are required. I have put plans in place to enrol on courses at LSHTM that solves my additional quantitative needs. For instance, spatial analysis, which was not covered under the EDSD program. Additional courses on survival and Bayesian statistics will be taken in due course. All these will provide me with the quantitative skills needed not only to investigate my current research but also to position myself well for future career prospects.
Keywords: family, empowerment, child health.
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000592/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 2445128 | Studentship | ES/P000592/1 | 01/10/2020 | 30/09/2024 | Josephine Ackah |
| Description | The award is still ongoing and I have made some progress in addressing some of the research's objectives. 1. I explored family structure typologies and their trends using data from Ghana's censuses and surveys. There were a total of nine different family structures based on information on household composition. They are as follows: a. Father, mother, child b. Father, mother, child, grandchild with paternal or maternal relatives c. Mother, child d. Mother, child, grandchild or maternal/paternal relatives e. Father, child f. Father, child, grandchild, or maternal/paternal relatives g. Couple-only family (head of household with a spouse) h. Couple with maternal or paternal relatives i. Head, grandchild with maternal/paternal relatives. The trends in these typologies over time reveal unique patterns. A higher proportion comprised father, mother and children families (about 30 percent) and there was a minimal decrease over time. However, couple only families showed gradual increase over time from 2.8 percent in 2003 to 3.3 percent in 2014. Information on family types and trends overtime is useful in understanding living arrangements in Ghana and key for predicting socioeconomic and health outcomes that have family as important predictor. 2. I have also examined the association between women's empowerment and children's survival using data from three rounds of the Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys. Empowerment indicators used include women's household decision making, control over income earned and attitude to violence. The results revealed that women's household decision making was not a strong predictor of child survival in Ghana. However, women's control over income was. The interesting finding about this is that, the relationship was stronger and children had higher survival chances if women made decisions with their partners compared to them making decisions alone. The findings also showed that children were able to have lower probabilities of dying if their mothers did not justify violence (this may be operating through their experience of intimate partner violence itself or related to other sociodemographic characteristics) compared to when their mothers justified violence. Moving forward, the relationships linking family structure, women's empowerment and child health outcomes will be explored further by unraveling: a. whether family structure influence women's empowerment b. whether family structure is important for children's growth and survival c. whether family structure matters in modifying the relationship linking women's empowerment and child health outcomes. |
| Exploitation Route | The findings of this study will be published in peer-reviewed journals and shared at international and local (Ghana) conferences. Brief Reports will also be written and shared with government institutions such as the Ghana Statistical Service, Ghana's Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Justice as well as other non-governmental institutions for whom this information will be useful. Social media platforms will also be used to disseminate findings. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Healthcare,Other |