Community caregivers' perspectives of community well-being in a mining community

Abstract

Mining communities throughout the Southern African Development Community are faced with numerous challenges impacting on their wellbeing. As part of an integrative multidisciplinary research project, this study sought to explore aspects that affect community wellbeing in the informal Bekkersdal mining community in South Africa from the perspective of local community caregivers. An explorative-descriptive qualitative study including 22 mainly female (91%) participants who were purposively sampled was conducted. As part of data collection, participants answered a series of open-ended questions in a questionnaire and kept journals. Thematic analysis was used to analyze that data. The results indicate aspects that either promote (contribute to) or hinder community wellbeing.