Elena Moore
Department of Sociology, University of Cape Town
Elena Moore
I am a Professor of Sociology at the University of Cape Town. Over the last twenty years, my research has focused on social change in personal life, inequalities in family life and the relationship between families and the state. I am the author of Generation, Gender and Negotiating Custom in South Africa (Routledge, 2022), Divorce, Families and Emotion Work (Palgrave, 2017) and (with Chuma Himonga) Reform of Customary Marriage, Divorce and Succession in South Africa (Juta & Co. 2015), as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters. I am a recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award 2021, and the Vice Chancellor Social Responsiveness Award 2023, University of Cape Town. I obtained a Wellcome Career Award, 2023-2028 to develop a research programme in Family Caregiving of Older Persons in Southern Africa (www.familycaregiving.org.za) and we run an extensive policy engagement programme funded by an IDRC Scaling Care Innovations in Africa Award 2024-2027. With extensive media and public engagement the work not only brings care issues to the public’s attention, but it catalyses sustained national coverage helping to move care from a private “family problem” to a societal responsibility. Our work is impacting regional policy architecture in the area of elder care.
FURTHER INFORMATION
| Countries | Botswana; South Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; |
|---|---|
| Topics | Care economy; Care in rural and other non-urban settings; Care inequalities; Care trajectories; Economics of LTC; Financing LTC; Living arrangements; LTC Policy; LTC Systems; Unpaid / informal care; |
| Methods | Analysis of administrative data; Case studies; Comparative policy analysis; Document analysis; Ethnography; Focus groups; Legal analysis; Mixed methods; Narrative evaluation methods; Policy analysis; Qualitative studies; Research diaries; Service mapping; Vignettes and narratives; |
| Role | Research; |
| Interest Groups | Care and social protection in Southern Africa; Economics of Long-Term Care; Long-Term Care Policy; Unmet need inequalities and care poverty (UNICAP); |
| Website | http://www.familycaregiving.org.za |
| ORC.ID | 0000-0002-0744-9826 |
| GOOGLE SCHOLAR | https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?user=ns6AzpoAAAAJ&hl=en |
| X (Twitter) | https://x.com/fam_caregiving |
| https://www.linkedin.com/company/fam-caregiving/ | |
| Other 1 | http://www.elenamoore.co.za; |
| Other 2 | http://www.copsan.org; |
| Research interests | Family Care of Older Persons in Southern Africa
|
| Key publications | 1. Moore, E., Vera-Sanso, P., & Mbokazi, N. (2025). When are ageing in place policies disabling and depleting? Later life family care in South Africa. Journal of Global Ageing (published online ahead of print 2025). Retrieved Dec 8, 2025, from https://doi.org/10.1332/29767202Y2025D000000037 Reports Funding Elder Care in South Africa: A focus on Community Care Spending. 2026 https://doi.org/10.25375/uct.32336328 Botswana Elder Care Spending during Fiscal Consolidation. 2026 https://doi.org/10.25375/uct.32084361
Family Caregiving of Older Persons in Botswana Report. 2026 https://doi.org/10.25375/uct.31238896.v2
Family Caregiving of Older Persons in South Africa Report. 2025 https://doi.org/10.25375/uct.29153141.v1
The Grant in Aid in South Africa: Support for Older Persons in Need of Care. https://doi.org/10.25375/uct.27916545.v1
|