Elderly people's experience facing social isolation in the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objective: to unveil the experience of the elderly with social isolation in the pandemic of COVID-19. Methods: qualitative study, with 14 elderlies in social isolation. The content was recorded and processed using the software Interface de R pour les Analyses Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires. Results: six classes were obtained, the first focused on spirituality and pre-pandemic pleasurable activities; the second was related to missing the extra-household routine and family life; the third, to the construction of a new routine; the fourth, to the strategies adopted for the prevention of COVID-19; the fifth, to the signs/symptoms experienced during the infection; and the sixth class, to the fear of dying. Conclusion: the experience of the elderly was permeated by the adaptation of routine, adoption of preventive measures and feelings of anguish in the face of uncertainties.

Older adults’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative systematic literature review.

“…We identified twenty-six out of thirty-two studies as moderate-high quality studies, they met most of the criteria (scoring 16/22 or above on the CASP; Butler et al, 2016). Only five papers were identified as low qualitative papers scoring 15 and below (Giebel et al, 2022;Gomes et al, 2021;Gonçalves et al, 2022;Sattari & Billore, 2020;Yildirim, 2022). The low-quality papers did not provide sufficient details regarding the researcher's relationship with the participants, sampling and recruitment, data collection, rigor in the analysis, or epistemological or ontological reasoning.…”

The self-care process of community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The fear of contracting the disease surrounded not only older adults, but it possibly occurred in an amplified way for them, since they lived with the stigma of being part of the disease risk group and this can have serious consequences for this population, directly affecting their health process ( 36 - 37 ) .…”

“…Another factor, social isolation, may also have an inherent contribution, since many older adults find themselves alone in their homes. The family arrangement of Brazilian older adults can be constituted in different ways; however, this arrangement often had to be changed due to the need to reorganize the routine and family dynamics impacted by the pandemic in different ways (3,37) . In this condition, older adults stopped doing their usual activities in the community and socializing, shopping, going to church, spending time with family members, doing physical and leisure activities.…”

O processo de autocuidado de idosos comunitários no contexto da pandemia de COVID-19

“…O medo de contrair a doença cercou não somente os idosos, mas possivelmente ocorreu de maneira amplificada para eles, uma vez que conviveram com o estigma de fazer parte do grupo de risco da doença, e isso pode trazer sérias consequências para tal população, afetando diretamente o seu processo de saúde (36)(37) .…”

“…Outro fator, o isolamento social, também pode ter contribuição inerente, uma vez que muitos idosos se encontram sozinhos em seus domicílios. O arranjo familiar do idoso brasileiro pode ser constituído de diversas formas; contudo, esse arranjo muitas vezes precisou ser alterado devido à necessidade de reorganização da rotina e dinâmica familiar impactada pela pandemia de diversas formas (3,37) . Nessa condição, os idosos deixaram de fazer atividades costumeiras na comunidade e de conviver em grupos sociais, fazer compras, frequentar igreja, conviver com familiares, fazer atividades físicas e de lazer.…”