Narratives of pride and regret among older persons in Ghana

Abstract

This paper contributes to scholarship on aging by exploring narratives of pride and regret among older persons in Ghana. Although there is emerging literature on older persons in Ghana, no recent research has provided a forum for older persons to talk about what they are proud of and/or regret. A narrative inquiry approach was used to explore what older persons in Ghana are proud of and what they regret in their lives. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 23 persons aged between 60 and 80 years and the data analyzed following narrative analysis procedures. Two overarching themes and four subthemes were identified in the narratives of pride and regret. ‘A sense of fulfilment’ emerged as the overarching theme from the narratives of pride whose subthemes were ‘contribution to society’ and ‘personal accomplishment’. Again, ‘a sense of disappointment’ emerged as the overarching theme from the narratives of regret whose subthemes were ‘mistakes of youth’ and ‘unfortunate experiences’. These findings and their implications are discussed