Gogo (Grandmother) Project
Enid Schatz, PI
Catherine Ogunmefun
Funding: University of Kwa-Zulu Natal HIV/AIDS Node, Small Grants Program ($25,000), Mellon Foundation (E. Schatz PI), African Demography Research and Training Program (J. Menken PI) ($25,000), Seed Grant from P30 AG024472-01 National Institute on Aging, Population Aging Center (J. Menken PI) ($10,000)
Period: 05/01/2004 - 01/01/2005
Description:
This research examines older women’s social experience of HIV/AIDS in rural South Africa. Repeated semi-structured interviews were conducted with 60 older women, 30 South African and 30 Mozambican, who reside in the Agincourt Health and Population Unit (AHPU) field site in South Africa’s rural north-east. The South African born respondents are eligible for the South African means-tested non-contributory pension; the self-settled Mozambican refugees, who officially were not eligible for the pension until recently.
For women over the age of 60, their primary experience of HIV/AIDS is through their interactions with kin who are at risk and who are sick, rather than through their own risk or sickness. Thus, older women are much more likely to be affected by than infected with HIV/AIDS. Older women are increasingly taking on financial and caregiving responsibilities due to their children’s suffering from HIV/AIDS. Using the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System (AHDSS) as a sampling frame, verbal autopsy data was employed to stratified the sample: 1/3 of the respondents were from households in which an HIV/AIDS death occurred between 2001-2003, 1/3 of the respondents were from households in which an adult death from another cause occurred between 2001-2003, and 1/3 of the respondents were from households in which no adult death occurred during the period.
In addition to the emotional and physical aspects of caregiving, there are often financial commitments. For example, relatives of individuals living with HIV/AIDS may help pay for allopathic and traditional medical treatments, transportation, school fees for grandchildren, as well as subsistence needs of the household. The financial burdens of HIV/AIDS-related morbidity are further compounded when a death occurs, resulting in substantial funeral related expenditures. Financial responsibilities may also arise due to non-HIV/AIDS related crises like children’s unemployment, gaps in remittances from migrants, and caring for grandchildren of non-married parents. In the South African context, the national means-tested non-contributory pension program may cushion such shocks, or may lead to an even greater reliance on the elderly for financial assistance.
Along with questions on pensions, the interviews explore the impact of HIV/AIDS on older women’s lives, how they feel the disease is affecting their way of life and their communities, and how HIV/AIDS is affecting their relationships with peers, children and grandchildren. The AHDSS provides access to rich annual longitudinal quantitative data on all area households dating back to 1992. By combining the data sources, the project produces a rich picture of the role of older women in households in the HIV/AIDS era.
For women over the age of 60, their primary experience of HIV/AIDS is through their interactions with kin who are at risk and who are sick, rather than through their own risk or sickness. Thus, older women are much more likely to be affected by than infected with HIV/AIDS. Older women are increasingly taking on financial and caregiving responsibilities due to their children’s suffering from HIV/AIDS. Using the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System (AHDSS) as a sampling frame, verbal autopsy data was employed to stratified the sample: 1/3 of the respondents were from households in which an HIV/AIDS death occurred between 2001-2003, 1/3 of the respondents were from households in which an adult death from another cause occurred between 2001-2003, and 1/3 of the respondents were from households in which no adult death occurred during the period.
In addition to the emotional and physical aspects of caregiving, there are often financial commitments. For example, relatives of individuals living with HIV/AIDS may help pay for allopathic and traditional medical treatments, transportation, school fees for grandchildren, as well as subsistence needs of the household. The financial burdens of HIV/AIDS-related morbidity are further compounded when a death occurs, resulting in substantial funeral related expenditures. Financial responsibilities may also arise due to non-HIV/AIDS related crises like children’s unemployment, gaps in remittances from migrants, and caring for grandchildren of non-married parents. In the South African context, the national means-tested non-contributory pension program may cushion such shocks, or may lead to an even greater reliance on the elderly for financial assistance.
Along with questions on pensions, the interviews explore the impact of HIV/AIDS on older women’s lives, how they feel the disease is affecting their way of life and their communities, and how HIV/AIDS is affecting their relationships with peers, children and grandchildren. The AHDSS provides access to rich annual longitudinal quantitative data on all area households dating back to 1992. By combining the data sources, the project produces a rich picture of the role of older women in households in the HIV/AIDS era.