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@article{204094,
        author = {Jemima N. A. A. Lomotey},
        title = {The Role of Community Support in Mitigating Loneliness Among Retired Ghanaians},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {1},
        pages = {3929-3938},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=204094},
        abstract = {Loneliness among retired older adults is an emerging public health and social concern in Ghana, yet research has predominantly relied on quantitative scales developed in Western individualistic contexts. These instruments may fail to capture how Ghanaian retirees experience and mitigate loneliness through culturally specific community support mechanisms. This qualitative comparative study investigates how findings about loneliness and community support differ when examined through individual interviews versus community focus group discussions, and assesses how community support functions differently in urban and rural retirement contexts. Grounded in Social Convoy Theory and Cultural Models of Social Support, the study draws on semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 36 retired Ghanaians (18 urban, 18 rural) aged 60 to 82 years. Thematic analysis revealed five major themes: (1) the invisibility of loneliness in individual interviews versus its collective acknowledgment in focus groups, (2) family proximity as necessary but insufficient without active community engagement, (3) religious networks as the primary loneliness buffer in both settings, (4) urban retirees' paradox of physical proximity but social distance, and (5) rural retirees' integration of work-like roles into post-retirement community participation. Direct quotations illuminate how community support operates through reciprocal obligations, elder reverence practices, and shared economic coping. The findings inform interventions for reducing loneliness among Ghanaian retirees and challenge Western-derived assumptions about older adult social isolation.},
        keywords = {Loneliness, retirement, community support, Ghana, older adults, qualitative methods, social networks, urban-rural comparison},
        month = {June},
        }