Motivation of Community Care Givers in a Peri-urban Area of Blantyre, Malawi

The main objective was to determine motivating factors for community care givers (CCGs), the services they provided to the community, and to identify sources of CCGs’material supplies. A cross sectional qualitative study was done using in-depth key informant interviews with community cares givers and traditional leaders. Analysis was based on themes utilizing content analysis. Most of the CCGs were housewives. Intrinsic motivating factors included feelings of empathy, altruism and religious convictions. Extrinsic motivators were rarely mentioned and these included expected opportunities for loans to start businesses, recognition by the community and eventual employment. The services that CCGs provided in their communities included; offering psycho-spiritual support, providing clothes, food and money to the under-privileged and paying school fees for orphans. In many instances the community care givers were spending from their own personal resources to help the under-privileged, while support from non-governmental organizations could only be sourced erratically. Mobilising resources from the local community through contributions was not seen a viable option. Intrinsic factors are an important motivator for community health volunteer CCGs in the peri-urban area of Blantyre. There is need for community groups to explore the feasibility of tapping from local material and financial resources.