<b><i>Ageing with Purpose: Health Agency and Empowerment in Later Life through the A.R.I.S.E. Model in Ghana</i></b><i>.</i>

<p dir="ltr">This study investigates how older adults in Ghana exercise health agency in a resource-limited context using a constructivist grounded theory approach informed by Symbolic Interactionism. Ninety participants (60+) from six urban and rural communities in Accra contributed through focus group discussions, with data analysed via open, axial, and selective coding using NVivo 10.</p><p dir="ltr">Findings produced the <b>A.R.I.S.E. Model</b>—Acceptance, Realisation, Initiative, Stabilisation, and Empowerment—describing how older adults regain control over their health. Transitions were influenced by illness, spirituality, gender, and social support, with health agency co-constructed through insight, behavioural change, and community engagement.</p><p dir="ltr">The study reframes ageing as a purposeful, empowering process and offers a culturally grounded framework for promoting health agency in low-resource settings, contributing a Global South perspective to ageing and health psychology.</p>