Healthy Aging in Egypt

Source: https://www.aucegypt.edu/research/social-research-center/healthy-aging-egypt Parent: https://www.aucegypt.edu/research/social-research-center/sdg-health-equity-arab-region/healthy-ageing

Healthy Aging in Egypt initiative aims to support Egypt’s efforts in securing the welfare of Egypt's older population and their families and harnessing the potentials of its second demographic dividend through promoting and supporting evidence-based and responsive healthy aging policies. In particular, the initiative aims to secure the needed evidence-based studies and information regarding the needs as well as the capacities of older persons to fully engage in the society with the aim of guiding and informing these policies. It aims to open a dialogue between policymakers and civil societies actively working in the area of population aging and researchers and academics towards addressing and investigating older persons’ and their families’ well-being.

A Longitudinal Study of Egypt Healthy Aging Initiative (Al SEHA)

Al-SEHA is an Egyptian initiative aiming at supporting responsive healthy aging policies through conducting a prospective cohort research study of older persons in Egypt. It aims to monitor the life journey of adult persons with its various dimensions including health, access to health services, income, occupation, environment, and socioeconomic changes over a long period of time.

This phase is the Egyptian component of a regional initiative EM-age (expand) initiative that covers Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, (Link to EM-AGE). This phase was implemented by the Social Research Center and the Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology of the American University in Cairo and was supported by the German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD) through the program (Hochschuldialog mit der islamischen Welt) and the Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA) at the Max-Planck-Institute for Social Law and Social Policy, Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe: (SHARE).

The main objectives of this phase:

Enhancing the capacity for research and policy development concerning population aging in Egypt.
Encouraging Egypt to implement the SHARE Survey, which is an internationally well-acknowledged household survey for evidence-based advocacy and actions.
Developing a network of scholars engaged in ageing-related research and actions.

Team members of Al-SEHA study

The main activities of this phase:

Analytical output and publications

El Sayed AEHI, Said MT, Mohsen O, Abozied AM, Salama M. Falls and associated risk factors in a sample of old age population in the Egyptian community. Front Public Health. 2023 Jan 26;11:1068314. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1068314. PMID: 36778572; PMCID: PMC9909230.
Presentations by trainees in the capacity building workshops.

This phase is a preparatory phase for launching a national representative Al-SEHA survey in Egypt. It focuses on the piloting the SHARE within the Egyptian context. The ultimate goal of this phase is to build the survey fieldwork and data management plans design, logistics and documents through applying the a in two communities in Egypt. The activities of this phase include:

Gaining Regional and National endorsements to health aging studies

This activity incorporated an international and regional expert meeting that aimed to investigate the regional demands to launch an initiative for an aging study modeled on the international and well-acclaimed SHARE experience. Such an experience provided a rich evidence base that successfully contributed to knowledge and influenced policies and actions (e.g. health care, health insurance, pension and social protection, etc.…) in more than 50 Countries in Europe, Asia, and the American Continent.

On February 6-7, 2022, under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) and Ministry Of Planning and Economic Development (MPED), the meeting was organized, by the Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology(IGHHE) and the Social Research Center (SRC) of American University in Cairo, in collaboration and with support from the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (WHO/EMRO), the National Institute of Aging(NIA), the International Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol study (HCAP), the Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), and Global brain Health Institute (GBHI).

Guiding responsive policies for healthy aging in Egypt

This section focuses on assessing the responsiveness of current policies and actions to the well-being and needs of older persons and their families in Egypt.

Healthy Aging Activities in Egypt

Field studies

1. Study of Aging Population (Egyptian SAGE-1994)

This study was one of the earliest studies on older persons in Egypt. It was implemented by the Social Research Center of the American University in Cairo with support from the WHO office in Vienna. (for more details on the study please refer to Khadr 1997)

Khadr, Zeinab 1997. Living arrangements and social support systems of the older population in Egypt.” Doctoral Dissertation. The Population Studies Center, The University of Michigan
Khadr Z. Differences in levels of social integration among older women and men in Egypt. J Cross Cult Gerontol. 2011 Jun;26(2):137-56. doi: 10.1007/s10823-011-9140-3. PMID: 21340707.

2. Validation of Gender Differences in Disability, Health Status, and Care

This study aimed to address the important methodological questions regarding the usefulness of health interview surveys to gather information on the elderly in developing country settings. In particular, this study attempted to answer questions about the applicability of health instruments that were designed in developed countries settings to measure health status among older populations in developing countries.

The study was supported by the National Institute of Aging (NIH R03 AG21707-01 2003)

Meetings and Webinars

Addressing Population-Ageing in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. Cairo, April 9-10, 2019. Click here for the Concept Note and Cairo Workshop Agenda.

Caring for our older population in the Arab countries: Policies and actions perspectives. Cairo, 29 June 2021.

Aging in the Arab region: Realizing the potentials of the second demographic dividend. Cairo, November 22, 2021.

Strengthening the Evidence Base to Support Healthy Aging in the Arab region: An International Policy and Experts Meeting. Cairo, February 6-7, 2023. Click here for the Concept Note.

Relevant Egyptian Aging Publications

Reports and Presentations

Khadr, Zeinab. 2021.Realizing the potential of the second demographic dividend in the Arab Countries. Prepared with support from UNFP/ASRO under the work plan

Khadr, Zeinab. 2022.Realizing the welfare of older persons in the Arab countries: Data requirements Prepared with support from UNFP/ASRO under the work plan

Peer review articles

Rasheedy D, Abou-Hashem RM. Overestimated functional dependency in older patients: Can we blame gender difference, unneeded assistance or assessment tools? Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2020 May-Jun;88:104018. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2020.104018. Epub 2020 Jan 29. PMID: 32044523.
Boggatz T, Dassen T. Ageing, care dependency, and care for older people in Egypt: a review of the literature. J Clin Nurs. 2005 Sep;14(8B):56-63. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2005.01277.x. PMID: 16083486.
Khadr, Zeinab. (2021). Growing Old in an Egyptian Family: Beyond the Bare Statistics. 10.1007/978-3-030-76501-9_3.
Angeli, A., & Novelli, M. (2019). Living Arrangements and Socio-Economic Conditions among Egyptian Elderly. The Determinants of Late-Life Family Structures. Statistica, 79(2), 135–156.
Yount KM, Agree EM. Differences in disability among older women and men in Egypt and Tunisia. Demography. 2005 Feb;42(1):169-87. doi: 10.1353/dem.2005.0009. PMID: 15782901.
Yount, Kathryn. (2008). Gender and Intergenerational Co-residence in Egypt and Tunisia. Population Research and Policy Review. 28. 615-640. 10.1007/s11113-008-9122-5.
Yount, K. M., & Khadr, Z. (2008). Gender, Social Change, and Living Arrangements Among Older Egyptians During the 1990s. Population Research and Policy Review, 27(2), 201–225.
Angeli, Aurora. (2013). Old age and inequalities in Egypt. The role of intergenerational relationships and transfers within the family. Paper presented in African Dynamics in Multipolar World, Old Age and inequalities in Egypt. The role of intergenerational relationships and transfers within the family
Fahmei, T & Tanda, R & Haile, Zelalem & Ruhil, A & Gartin, Meredith & Ice, Gillian. (2020). Changes in living arrangements of older persons in Egypt 2000-2014. Egyptian Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences. 1. 60-72. 10.21608/EJNHS.2020.80269.
Khadr, Z. 2004. “Working in Old Age: Attributes and Circumstances.” “Al Nahda” The Renaissance, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo Egypt
Khadr,. 2004 “Work and retirement behavior in Old Age: The Experience of Older Egyptian Men.” The Egyptian Population and Family Planning Review, Institute Of Statistical Studies and Research, Cairo, Egypt
Rashad, H. & Khadr, Z. 2002. “The Demography of the Arab region: New challenges and opportunities,” in Human Capital: Population Economics in the Middle East. Sirageldin, Ismail, (ed) An Economic Research Forum Edition, The American University in Cairo press.

Relevant International Aging Publications

General
Gender and aging
Climate change and aging
Inequality and aging