ABSTRACT
The lives of many older people in developing countries are dramatically, and, most frequently, negatively, influenced by the social and economic changes that accompany the development process. Migration to cities by young rural adults in Africa undermines the traditional extended family system, as the new migrants establish nuclear families in the cities while the older generation are left to fend for themselves in rural areas (Khasiani 1987, Gaisie 1989, Hunt 1989, Udvardy and Cattell 1992). Similarly, the status of the elderly is threatened by the growth of individualism and a desire for independence and autonomy, as education provides younger people with some of the skills needed to strive to obtain the Western lifestyle displayed by the mass media (Nahemow 1979, Kendig 1987, Ingstaad et al. 1992).
