"We clean our houses, prepare for weddings and go to funerals": daily lives of elderly Africans in Majaneng, South Africa.
This ethnographic study aims to identify and describe how a group of elderly African people in South Africa experience their daily life and related concerns and interests. Data were collected through group interviews involving 16 elderly persons and complementary field observations. The data were analysed using a qualitative content analysis. From the analysis following sub-themes emerged: 1. Lack of basic resources; 2. Routines in daily life; 3. Experience of unsafe conditions; 4. "The disease"-HIV/AIDS. The results have been discussed according to the following themes: keeping normality and changing society. The study illuminates the varied experiences in daily life, including lack of basic resources, experience of unsafe conditions, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic and its consequences for the elderly as contributors to the extended family.
Bohman
Doris M
DM
School of Health Science, Blekinge Institute of Technology, 37179 Karlskrona, Sweden. dbh@bth.se
Vasuthevan
Sharon
S
van Wyk
Neltjie C
NC
Ekman
Sirkka-Liisa
SL
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D005655:Funeral Rites; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology; D006802:Human Activities; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012449:Safety; D013019:South Africa