Presenter:
Delali A. Dovie; Joseph Mensah; Cati Coe, University of Ghana, Ghana
Abstract
The challenges and opportunities of aging can be shaped by one’s transnational connections. They may face unique challenges related to cultural adjustments and navigating healthcare systems in their new country. Transnational older adults are predisposed to experiencing social isolation due to limited social networks in their current location and difficulties accessing quality healthcare. This systematic review aims to explore the perceptions of Black African older adult immigrants regarding transnational aging, emphasizing how their experiences are shaped by enduring connections to their countries of origin and host countries. Thus, a comprehensive literature search was conducted in English, across multiple databases, including PsycINFO, CINAHL, PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of science, and Social Science. This review used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for systematic reviews. All written publications were searched for in English, and all articles included in this review were peer reviewed full papers that covered studies published up to December 2025. The review included quantitative and qualitative studies that focused on the lived experiences, perceptions, and cultural perspectives of Black African older adults aged 60+, who maintain transnational ties through social, economic, or cultural practices. The authors screened titles/abstracts, full-text manuscripts for inclusion and performed data extraction and risk of bias assessments using the Cochrane RoB 1 tool. Authors of studies were contacted for further information where required. Four overarching themes highlighted the significance of transnational connections in shaping aging experiences: (1) impact of transnational ties on well-being and quality of life in old age; (2) transnational family dynamics and caregiving practices; (3) health disparities among transnational older adults; (4) the role of culture and identity in navigating aging in a transnational context. As people age, their cultural identity can become more salient, leading to a complex negotiation of their heritage culture with their current living environment. Increasingly, the lives of older people are entangled in transnational contexts on the social, cultural, economic and political levels. The review underscores the importance of understanding transnational perceptions among Black African older adults to inform culturally sensitive policies and support systems that respect their dual affiliations. These perceptions are essential for developing tailored services that acknowledge their transnational identities, promote social cohesion, and support successful aging across borders. Transnational aging provides a critical lens on how immigrant Black African older adults shape, organize and cope with complex cultural, social, and health-related needs in a globalized world.
Bio(s):
Delali A. Dovie is sociologist, whose research works focuse on retirement planning our issues and retirement, active ageing, urban ageing, social care, social inclusion, well-being and quality of life of older adults through cutting-edge research, quality improvement, and implementation namely “Investigating the Association between Childhood Circumstances and Old Age Quality in Ghana, ‘An Investigation of the Church Attendance Dynamics among Ghana’s Urban Geriatric Population’, ‘The Status of Older Adult Care in Contemporary Ghana: A Profile of Some Emerging Issues’. Dr. Delali A. Dovie is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Ageing Studies, University of Ghana. As a matter of facts, her experiences thus far have prepared her to understand the plight of older people. To date, she has published a total of 30 journal papers, 10 book chapters. She is a member of the Ghana Sociological and Anthropological Association, African Studies Association and the Association of Anthropology, Gerontology and Later Life Course.
Dr. Joseph Mensah is a Professor and the Global Geography Program Coordinator in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC) at York University in Toronto. His current research interests include transnational and return migration; ethno-racial identity formation; African development; and dialectics. Professor Mensah’s research cuts across a wide range of disciplines, culminating in publications is such diverse and reputable journals as Health Economics, Higher Education, Studies in Political Economy, Housing Studies, and Canadian Geographer. He has written several book chapters and books, including the well-received Black Canadians: History, Experience, and Social Conditions, published by Fernwood in 2002 & 2010. Dr. Mensah served as Chair of the Department of Geography at York University (2016-19); the Deputy Director of the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples at York University (2010-13); a Board Member of the Center for Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement (CERIS), from 2011 to 2013; and the Coordinator of York University’s International Development Studies (IDS) program (2008 to 2010). He is also a founding member of the University of Ghana Pan African Doctoral Academy (PADA).
Cati Coe joined the Department of Political Science at Carleton University in 2022, arriving from Rutgers University in the United States, where she worked as a professor of anthropology for twenty years. Dr. Coe’s research focuses on transnational families from Ghana, examining long-distance parenting in scattered families with children left behind in or sent back to Ghana, before turning to the other end of the life course and the care of older persons. She is the author of The Scattered Family: Parenting, African Migrants, and Global Inequality (University of Chicago Press, 2013), The New American Servitude: Political Belonging among African Immigrant Home Care Workers (New York University Press, 2019), and Changes in Care: Aging, Migration, and Social Class in West Africa (Rutgers University Press, 2021). She is currently beginning a new project on how transnational migrants navigate national forms of social protection in later life. From her scholarship on African immigrant personal support workers in the United States, she has additional research interests in care worker organizing and resistance and the labor involved in end-of-life care.
