Middle Adolescents’ Motivations to Care for Older Persons in an Economically Vulnerable Community

In the light of ageing populations and limited resources, care is becoming increasingly important in intergenerational relations. Qualitative research was conducted to investigate the motivations of middle adolescents to care for older persons (people aged 60 years). Data from journal entries and the Mmogo-method® of 15 Setswana-speaking adolescents (aged 12–16 years) from South Africa were obtained and analyzed thematically. We found that middle adolescents were moved to care for older persons by extrinsic motivation and internalized external motivators with varying levels of self-determination with no evidence of intrinsic motivation. The findings indicate, therefore, that the care needs of older persons may be at risk.