Main purpose of the job:

• To determine how extended households negotiate and provide care to people with ADRD; as well as how the health and wellbeing of all caregivers are affected by care roles

Location:

• Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province

More info:

The MRC/Wits-Agincourt Research Unit is a leading health and population research centre that supports a major research infrastructure including a health and socio-demographic surveillance system (HDSS) covering the Agincourt sub-district of rural Mpumalanga Province adjacent to Mozambique. Taking a life-course approach, the Unit undertakes interdisciplinary observational and intervention research collaborating with scientists from South and sub-Saharan African, UK/European, and North American institutions.

The two postdoctoral positions relate to a two-year funded grant that will investigate how families and friends provide care and support in the context of dementia within the MRC/Wits-Agincourt study area. The grant is co-led by Professor Lenore Manderson and Dr. Guy Harling. Professor Manderson is a medical anthropologist with extensive research experience across three continents. At Wits, she leads a programme of work around medical interventions, technology, access, and equity, and on chronic care and aging in community settings. Dr. Harling is a social epidemiologist and Wellcome Trust/Royal Society Sir Henry Dale fellow at University College London who has worked in South Africa since 2004. His research focus is on how social connections and social networks both places people at risk for and protect them against, poor health outcomes.

The study is concerned with (1) how extended households negotiate and provide care to people with ADRD; and (2) how the health and wellbeing of all caregivers are affected by care roles. Rural South Africa is ideal for examining ADRD caregiving since dementia prevalence is rising, understanding of dementia is limited, formal care is limited, and household structures and social networks are diverse and in flux due to poverty, rapid social change, circular migration, and comorbid conditions – all allowing careful examination of constellations of care.

The study will be multidisciplinary, involving both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, including qualitative observation of household activities, in-depth interviews, and quantitative surveys to determine patterns of care and health among residents, non-resident kin, and non-kin. Inquiries about academic aspects of the positions can be directed to Professor Manderson (lenore.manderson@wits.ac.za) for qualitative-focused work or Dr. Harling (g.harling@ucl.ac.uk) for quantitative-focused work.

Successful applicants will join a multidisciplinary team and enjoy unparalleled opportunities across all stages of the research process. This will include ethics...