Older women as carers to children and grandchildren affected by AIDS: towards supporting the carers

A longitudinal study was conducted in 43 households in three historically disadvantaged townships of the Western Cape metropole, South Africa. In each household an older woman (grandmother) was caring for an adult child or children terminally ill with AIDS and co-resident grandchildren. The study identified material, physical and psychosocial difficulties experienced by the older carers; recorded changes in the caregiving situations and coping strategies over six months - including AIDS related deaths; and planned and implemented an intervention. The evaluation outcome of the subsequent four-month intervention, aimed at support and empowerment of older carers, led to the establishment of an NGO, Grandmothers Against Poverty and AIDS, which now operates 22 support groups in townships across the metropole and three groups in the Eastern Cape Province. Evaluation of the intervention and support group model is ongoing. The research component of the project was funded by a grant from the Bristol-Myers Squib Community Outreach and Education Fund “Secure the Future” Program; 1999/2001. Office reports available on-line (separate reports on the survey and the intervention).
Request: mf @ cormack.uct.ac.za