A digital approach to support the elderly and their caregivers Dr Sihle Nhlabathi’s research aims to increase knowledge and address the need for geriatric psychiatry in SA 22 April 2021 Image: Supplied/Discovery Foundation Dr Sihle Nhlabathi, 36, a psychiatrist sub-specialising in geriatric psychiatry at Stikland Hospital in Cape Town, is researching effective ways of getting correct and helpful information to caregivers of the elderly to improve the care they receive. She received a Discovery Foundation Award to measure the impact that digital information can make in this field. “I didn’t like my grandmother at all when I was growing up in Durban. She terrified me. She was difficult, aggressive and irritable at times. I avoided her as far as I could, disappearing into my room with a novel to avoid the strife this situation was causing in the home,” says Nhlabathi.