Impact of COVID-19 public health restrictions on older people in Uganda: “hunger is really one of those problems brought by this COVID”

Abstract

Objectives: To explore the impact of COVID-19 related public health restrictions on the lives of older adults living in Uganda. Design: Qualitative semi-structured interview study Setting: Participants’ homes Participants: Older adults living in Uganda (aged 60+) Measurements: Older adults in Uganda were interviewed over the phone and asked about their lives before and since COVID-19, and how public health restrictions have affected their lives. Semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and translated into English. Transcripts were thematically analysed and themes generated in discussion. Results: 30 older adults participated in the study. Five themes were identified: (1) Economic impacts; (2) Lack of access to basic necessities; (3) Impact on health care utilisation; (4) Social impacts; and (5) Violent reinforcement of public health restrictions. COVID-public health restrictions had severe impacts on their lives, with many people having not enough food to eat due to lack of income, and being unable to pay their grandchildren’s school fees. Steep rises in public transport fares and an overall avoidance of transport also resulted in a lack of access to healthcare services and difficulty in getting food. Restrictions were violently reinforced by security guards. Conclusions: Public health restrictions have a severe impact not only on older adults, but the whole family in Uganda. Governmental strategies to contain the virus need to provide more support to enable people to get basic necessities and live as normal a life as possible.

The Effect of COVID-19-related Lockdowns on Diet and Physical Activity in Older Adults: A Systematic Review

“…Five studies exclusively reported on changes in dietary behaviors in older individuals [ 12 , 18 , 26 , 27 , 31 ], 17 exclusively reported on changes in physical activity [ 13 - 17 , 19 , 22 , 23 , 25 , 28 - 30 , 33 - 35 , 37 , 38 ], and 5 reported on both [ 20 , 21 , 24 , 32 , 36 ]. Many (n = 17) studies reported on a variety of diet and/or physical activity outcomes for the total study population but provided only selective results for the specified age group of 50+ years [ 12 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 19 - 25 , 27 , 29 , 31 , 32 , 37 , 38 ].…”

Informal caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic perceive additional burden: findings from an ad-hoc survey in Germany

“…Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID- 19) pandemic and the mechanisms determining the cause of COVID-19 are under medical research worldwide [1]; equally, the psychosocial consequences of the restrictions are also the subject of research. To date, studies have mostly addressed adults and older adults [2][3][4] but informal caregivers have rarely been subject to current pandemic research. An informal caregiver is a person who has a significant personal relationship with, and provides a broad range of assistance for, a person in need of care.…”

Assessing equity and the determinants of socio-economic impacts of COVID-19: results from a cross-sectional survey in three counties in Kenya

“…One, compared to middle-aged adults who are more likely to be economically active, elderly individuals are less likely to be involved in income-generating activities to be able to cushion themselves against the indirect effects of COVID-19 mitigation measures but rather depend on others. This position is corroborated by findings of a study from Uganda that showed that older people (above 60 years), among other things, lacked access to enough food, lost the little income generated from selling farm produce and could not access healthcare or interact with family and friends due to the COVID-19 regulations (25). Two, married women or women, in general, are more likely to be vulnerable to the indirect COVID-19 mitigation measures because compared to men, they are less likely to be employed, take on unpaid care burden for children and other household chores, depend on their male partners and are more at risk of experiencing gender-based violence, especially when employment or income is lost (37)(38)(39).…”

“…Multicollinearity of the independent variables was assessed using variance inflation factors. The dependent variable was the disruption index (continuous variable), while the selection of independent variables was informed by factors that have been suggested in the literature to determine individuals' vulnerability to COVID-19 mitigation measures (7,19,(24)(25)(26).…”