Variation in health status reports: Triangulating mixed methods data to assess the health and wellbeing of primary caregivers to older rural South Africans

Caregivers’ health status is important, given its importance for their own wellbeing and capacity to provide quality care. While single item self-rated health questions in surveys are an efficient measure, there is reporting heterogeneity and limited understanding of what people mean when they rate their health in a particular way. We draw on data collected in a mixed-method study on the informal caregiving of older people in rural northeast South Africa, including a standard cross-sectional quantitative survey, an ethnographic survey, and longitudinal ethnographic observations. Results indicate that caregivers invoke the social circumstances in which they provide care when rating their own health and ability to care. We highlight the strengths of multiple methods to assess the capacity, future ability, and needs of caregivers. We advocate carefully constructing health condition response categories to include functional impairments and to be informed by context.