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Older Adult Well-Being During the Covid-19 Pandemic: An Exploration of Coping Responses

Amid Social Isolation

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Heidi Morris, PhD., LPC, CFLE

Emily Hand, Undergraduate Student Researcher

Abilene Christian University

COVID-19 Pandemic

About this Study

• Each participant was at least 65 years old and lived at their primary or secondary home during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
• 10 participant interviews were collected for this qualitative study.
• 6 female; 4 males; 3 single/widowed; 7 married
• This study utilizes a qualitative design. Qualitative methodology refers to research that generates descriptive data that comes from the written or spoken language of participants, as well as their observed behavior (Taylor & Bogdan, 1998).
• Each Zoom interview was recorded, transcribed, and loaded into NVivo software to analyse and code themes related to each person’s lived experience of social isolation during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Purpose of the Study

1. Identify the lived experiences of older adults (65+) who have lived at home during the Covid-19 Pandemic and have experienced social isolation.

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1. Describe the ways in which these older adults have struggled and thrived during the isolation of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

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3. Contribute to the body of literature on social isolation in older adults.

Literature Review

• Understanding the specific impact of social isolation in the older adult population provides an opportunity to identify the ways older adults struggle and thrive in times of isolation.

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• As a result of the safety and health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, adults around the age 65 or older have an increased risk of both social isolation and loneliness (National Institute on Aging [NIA], 2021). For some older adults, the effort to protect their physical health has cost them their regular social connections.

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• Another article refers to adults 65 years or older to be a “vulnerable group”, for they lack modern day social skills (Seifert, 2020).

Literature Review

• Common physical and psychological effects for seniors aged 65 years or older who identified as lonely include increased risk of mortality, chronic illness such as coronary artery disease, stroke, high blood pressure, obesity, and a weakened immune system, as well as mental health issues including dementia, anxiety, depression, and an overall cognitive decline (Donovan & Blazer, 2020; NIA, 2021; Ong et al., 2016; Teater et al., 2021).

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• Further studies state, older adults 65 years or older are “significantly more likely to experience severe illness, life-threatening complications, hospitalizations, and deaths” (Batra et al., 2020).

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• Literature shows that loneliness, specifically related to COVID-19, created sleep problems for older adults because of higher worries associated with the pandemic and low resilience (Grossman et al., 2020).

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Themes

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• The experience of social isolation
• Challenges during isolation
• Benefits of social isolation
• Coping resources during social isolation
• Use and impact of technology during social isolation
• Connecting with others during social isolation
• Lessons learned from social isolation
• Evaluation of health from social isolation
• Resiliency
• Needs of older adults during social isolation
• Meeting needs of older adults during social isolation

Theme: Challenges During Social Isolation

It produced a little bit of depression, you know, from being isolated. And some, some anxiety just over what to expect or how long is this going to last? Is it always going to be this way, you know? Even just the anxiety of possibly catching COVID. [P10.1]

One is, even though my son and I talk in text frequently, and he calls, I didn't get to see him. I still have not seen him since Christmas of 2019. And I miss him terribly…So that was very difficult [P2.1]

The reason I hesitate is that I don't think it's really over, as we just discussed, still ongoing. But having to give up all the things that engage me with other people on a normal basis. You know, and having to fill that time. What do you do on Sunday night when you've been volunteering at the hospital for years? What do you do on Wednesday night when you've been going into choir practice for years? I honestly think if I lived alone, it could have broken me….[P4.1]

Theme: Benefits of Social Isolation

One is, I have not actually finished grieving. Mother's [death]. And I don't think you ever really get finished with that. But I had, I had more time for reflection…[P2.1].

I learned that I can amuse myself by burying myself in family history, or whatever my passion is. I was with my vocal coach on, my voice coach, on Zoom a lot. So I was continuing to sing and I helped improve my singing. I read a lot of stuff that I’ve been meaning to read for years. So performances I never would have seen took a lot of genealogy classes I never would have taken, and learned that the anxiety subsided after a while. I didn't need to be that busy and that active every second….[P3.1]

Theme: Coping Resources During Social Isolation

Probably having a spouse was really helpful. And prayer. And at least connecting if not in person on the phone, having that lifeline to talk to, to friends, and family [P10.1].

I think journaling helped me the most. Um, I think this sounds weird, and especially in the context of this. Most people don't document just the day to day parts of their lives. They don't bear witness…[P2.1].

Oh, probably getting together outside those, those moments when we'd get a get together out in the parking lot and just sit there in our lawn chairs. And we, we we'd be you know, we'd be 12-10, 9-10 feet apart. And we could just talk, you know, oh, that was, that was always wonderful. I mean, that really helped a lot [P7.1].

So a little airplane help more than one person out {P7.1}.

Significance & Implications

• Struggles & Resiliency
• Human connection
• Resources helping with connection
• Loneliness leading to health problems
• A need of help from society

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Future Research

Due to the evolving nature of the Coronavirus, this study is turning into a longitudinal study where the same participants will be interviewed again, to gather the lived experience over time while living through the evolving nature of the pandemic.

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Group 1

Group 1

Time 1

Time 2

References

Batra, K., Morgan, A. E., & Sharma, M. (2020, October 27). COVID-19 and Social Isolation Endangering Psychological Health of Older Adults: Implications for Telepsychiatry. https://www.signavitae.com/articles/10.22514/sv.2020.16.0070.

Donovan, N. J., & Blazer, D. (2020, December). Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Review and Commentary of a National Academies Report. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7437541/.

Grossman, E. S., Hoffman, Y. S. G., Palgi, Y., & Shrira, A. (2020, August 28). COVID-19 related loneliness and sleep problems in older adults: Worries and resilience as potential moderators. https://ezproxy.acu.edu:2054/science/article/pii/S0191886920305626?via%3Dihub .

Ong, A. D., Uchino, B. N., & Wethington, E. (2016). Loneliness and Health in Older Adults: A Mini-Review and Synthesis. Gerontology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6162046/.

References

Seifert, A. (2021, February 15). Older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic – Forgotten and stigmatized? . SAGE Journals. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0020872820969779. Taylor, S. J., & Bogdan, R. (1998). Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Teater, B., Chonody, J. M., & Davis, N. (2021). Risk and Protective Factors of Loneliness among Older Adults: The Significance of Social Isolation and Quality and Type of Contact, Social Work in Public Health, 36:2, 128-141. https://ezproxy.acu.edu:2272/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080%2F19371918.2020.1866140.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2021, January 14). Loneliness and Social Isolation - Tips for Staying Connected. National Institute on Aging (NIA). https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/loneliness-and-social-isolation-tips-staying-connected.