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Researchers at the University of Cape Town are conducting a broad, multi-country study on the challenges posed by a rapidly aging population. Professor Elena Moore is leading the research, examining the needs of not just older persons in need of care, but also the many challenges faced by the caregivers, and the institutional changes that need to occur to bridge caregiving gaps.
In this video one participant in the study, Lee Ann McDonald, discusses the physical and mental challenges of caring for her older mother, Wahieda Augustus, as well as her own children.
You can read more about the research project, Family Caregiving of Older Persons in Southern Africa, here - www.familycaregiving.org.za
October 1st has been named by the United Nations as the International Day of Older Persons.
Additional information about the researchers:
Professor Elena Moore
Dept. of Sociology, University of Cape Town
Elena Moore is a Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cape Town. She obtained a Wellcome Career Award, 2023-2028 to develop and grow a research programme in Family Caregiving of Older Persons in Southern Africa. This is the first multi-sited qualitative longitudinal study on family caregiving in Africa. She runs an extensive policy engagement programme which was recently awarded an IDRC Scaling Care Innovations in Africa Award 2024-2027 for a linked project on: ‘Transforming Elder Care through Collective Policy Action in Southern Africa (2024-2027). She is a recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award 2021, as well as the Vice Chancellor Social Responsiveness Award, University of Cape Town, 2023.
Dr. Nonzuzo Mbokazi
Senior Researcher, Family Caregiving Programme, University of Cape Town
Nonzuzo Mbokazi holds a PhD in sociology and a postdoc in medicine from the University of Cape Town (UCT). She is a sociologist and public health researcher with a profound commitment to addressing health disparities and promoting social justice. Her research spans the intersections of race, gender, class and health.
She is currently a senior researcher on the Family Caregiving Programme at UCT. The programme is a research study which adopts a qualitative longitudinal explorative approach to understanding family care in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Malawi. This is the first major programme dedicated to understanding family care of older persons in the Southern African region.
Nonzuzo is a passionate advocate for community health, gender equity and the recognition of the care economy. She has experience in collaborative work with various organisations to develop context sensitive health interventions.
Zeenat Samodien
Data Officer, The Family Caregiving Programme
Zeenat Samodien graduated from the University of Cape Town with a Bachelor of Social Science, majoring in Gender Studies, Religious Studies, and Sociology. Her academic journey continued with a Master’s degree, which she earned with distinction.
Her postgraduate research has focused on the experiences of South African Muslim women, particularly in the context of Islamic divorce and the non-recognition of Muslim marriages in South Africa. Currently, Zeenat applies her skills and knowledge as the data officer for the Family Caregiving Programme, contributing to impactful projects and initiatives.
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It's very stressful. It's very stressful because it's a lot of people that I need to see too. I
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actually get up at about 5 in the morning. So it's a constant being busy all day. It's been
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the past two years that I've been looking after my mother, two, three years now. And then before that
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I was taking care of my grandparents for four years. I struggle with mental health as well,
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like my mother. But it is challenging because there is days where I just don't want to get up.
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I don't want to do anything. And it's days where my mother feels exactly the same. But I just have
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to stuff it up and just be there. So it's very seldom where I can just take a day off, because
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I just don't feel like doing anything. So it gets very frustrating at times. There needs to be a
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re-envisioning of ageing. You know, it is supposed to be seen as the best years of an older person.
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And what our research has highlighted is that with ageing comes difficulties, it comes challenges. We
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need to think about how we care for older persons across the world and in different societies
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the needs are different. The care needs of the older population are different. We have a large
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empirical study, research study, operating in these four countries, Malawi, Botswana,
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Namibia and South Africa. We are working with a range of stakeholders, including NPOs, government
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officials, policy advocates, community members, in trying to create spaces to co-construct our
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understanding of care of older persons. Families are stretched thin, battling to make do with the
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little that they have and trying to prioritise providing care for an older person. Most of the
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time I'm bedridden, I'm in bed because of the pain that I have. I have fibromyalgia which is a spasm,
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chronic spasms. The spasms is very debilitating. Even just someone that would come and wash my
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mother, because that's also a very stressful thing, because then it's helping her into the
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bath, helping her out of the bath, helping her wash. So if I could have help with things like
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that, every now and then, during the week, then it would take the load off from me. First of all,
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it's not recognised. It's invisible work, and we've heard that before. You know, care work is
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invisible. Women in the areas that I'm studying carry all of the work. Those children have had to
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put their goals, their life plans on hold in order to provide care for an older person who hasn't had
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the advantage of being able to save so families are integral to the care provision of older
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people. We also need to respect older persons. Older persons have given a lifetime to society,
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whether it's through, you know, their multiple contributions of helping others, of working,
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of paying in tax, for example. We want people to live with dignity as they age. We want people to
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be able to do what they do want to do, whatever that is. Some people it will be to be active,
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other people it will be to be recognised and heard and to be represented. The research that they do
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is for people like me and I'm hoping and I know that the outcome will be that this will help other
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people as well , when it comes to improving on the conditions that we are getting through
1 October 2024
