Support for volunteer caregivers and its influence on the quality of community home-based care in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Abstract

The factors influencing the quality of community home-based care (CHBC) were explored from the perspective of volunteer caregivers, their clients and key informants in a South African Eastern Cape district. Focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data on the perceptions of quality of care from 32 volunteer caregivers, 32 clients and 12 other key informants. The survey data were descriptively analyzed and the qualitative data thematically coded. The results showed that supervisor support, peer support, community support and family support of the volunteer caregivers influenced their ability to provide quality CHBC to their clients.