Family Caregiving Programme
Of Elder Persons in Southern Africa
South Africa, Namibia, Malawi and Botswana
The five year Wellcome Trust research project is a multiple-case qualitative longitudinal study of family care of older persons across four countries in Southern Africa.
Overall Objective: To investigate how family care for older persons is experienced across time and place, drawing on rich, contextual evidence.
Emerging recommendations:
First, we advocate for the introduction of a caregiving compensation to acknowledge and support the vital work caregivers perform.
Second, we call for accessible home-based care services, which are essential for easing the care load, offering respite, and supporting the mental health of family caregivers.
Thirdly, we urge improved access to incontinence products, reliable medication delivery for those with high care needs, and nutritious food. These practical supports would significantly lessen the caregiving burden in resource-constrained settings.
This research investigates how family care for older persons is experienced across time and place, drawing on rich, contextual evidence.
We work with 340 families across four countries and nineteen sites, spanning two time periods. Alongside in-depth engagement with families, we’ve conducted extensive community mapping of local services at each site.
Our teams have also convened large community meetings with up to 600 participants, including older persons, family caregivers, home-based carers, social workers, traditional and community leaders, to ensure a broad and inclusive dialogue.
We take an interdisciplinary approach, applying both qualitative and quantitative methods to understand the complexities of family care. Ethnographic research has illuminated issues such as the low receipt of disability-related social grants among older persons, while our quantitative analysis provides a broader view of the social and economic positioning of households where care occurs.
While the research is ongoing, key findings are already emerging.
Project Partners
The University of Cape Town, The University of Botswana, The University of Malawi, The University of Namibia
Project Reports
Scroll through the list below and select a report to view or download on ZivaHub.