Voices of older persons' caregivers: Exploring their mental well-being and the role of social work intervention in selected Sub-Saharan African countries

Two out of three older persons will likely need longer-term support and care from others. Hence, formal and informal caregivers' roles for older persons are reinforced, and they are expected to fulfil these roles without it impacting their mental well-being. Hence, with two research questions and being hinged on the biopsychosocial model, this study was set to identify and establish the presence of mental well-being issues among older persons' caregivers in Ghana, Nigeria, and Malawi. The study was also to establish culturally relevant social work interventions for enhancing caregivers’ mental well-being. A qualitative research approach was employed, using an instrumental case study research design with a semi-structured interview used as an instrument. A non-probability sampling technique was used to select a sample of 27 participants who are formal and informal caregivers across the countries. Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) was used for analysis, and findings revealed that caregivers experience both positive and negative mental well-being. However, they acknowledged that having an Afrocentric social work intervention to enhance their well-being in terms of programmes, approaches and timing. It was recommended among others that there should be an expansion of social work activities, to include educational activities, policy reform and advocacy.