07.02.01.01 Does the country provide health and long-term care services to support people with dementia in community-based settings? | South Africa

07.02.01.01 Does the country provide health and long-term care services to support people with dementia in community-based settings? | South Africa

15 Aug 2022

South Africa has moved towards community-based care services for older persons in general (not dementia-specific). Although the Older Person’s Act, along with its suggested amendment recommendations to have all caregivers be registered with the Department of Social Development (SAHRC, 2017b, see p.3), these services remain largely unregulated (Prince et al., 2016a). Community-based care is also divided along two tiers, i.e. profit-based private care that is usually urban-biased as well as non-profit care that is resource-constrained and typically offered by faith-based organisations (FBOs), NGOs (Prince et al., 2016a), civil society and public welfare bodies (WHO, 2017). South Africa has examples of multi-purpose centres that provide housing, support services, carer training, community outreach programmes, as well as frail care (e.g., the Centurion Council for the Aged) (Lombard & Kruger, 2009). However, the vast majority of South Africans do not have access to these pockets of comprehensive care (Lombard & Kruger, 2009), with very few formal/organised services for most older persons in South Africa that do not have access to the two tiers of care mentioned here (WHO, 2017).

References:

Lombard, A., & Kruger, E. (2009). Older persons: The case of South Africa. Ageing International, 34(3), 119–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-009-9044-5

Prince, M., Comas-Herrera, A., Knapp, M., Guerchet, M., & Karagiannidou, M. (2016a). World Alzheimer Report 2016: Improving healthcare for people living with dementia. In Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI). https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.22580.04483

SAHRC. (2017b). South African Human Rights Commission Older Persons Amendment Bill. Available from: https://www.sahrc.org.za/home/21/files/SAHRC%20Submission%20on%20Older%20Persons%20Bill-%20Dept%20Soc%20Dev-%2030.6.17.pdf

WHO. (2017). Towards long-term care systems in sub_Saharan Africa: WHO series on long-term care. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241513388