Employment opportunities and challenges for less educated women in geriatric home health care : a case study from Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

This study is addressing the problem of women from lower income classes in Cairo to find work opportunities because of their low level of education. At the same time, there is an increasing demand for geriatric home health care provider (GHHCP) due to a demographic transition and the resulting problem of ageing in Egypt. Addressing both problems, a lot of organizations started to offer training and employment in the field of geriatric home health care, encouraging especially less advantaged women to apply for this work. Despite the worsening economic situation in Egypt, which makes it necessary for those women to work, social and personal challenges make it difficult to work as a GHHCP. The objectives of this study are to find out why the occupation as a GHHCP is a good opportunity for less educated women, what can be done to overcome those challenges in order to find more acceptances in the society and to make this occupation more attractive to work in.