Mental health and factors related to life satisfaction in nursing home and community‐dwelling older adults during COVID‐19 pandemic in Turkey

Abstract

Background The geriatric population is supposed to be at high risk for psychological distress as well as adverse outcomes and mortality during the COVID‐19 pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the levels of depression, anxiety, death anxiety and life satisfaction levels and factors related to life satisfaction in individuals aged 65 years and older during the pandemic and to compare these variables between nursing home (NH) and community‐dwelling older adults. Method This study has a cross‐sectional and descriptive design, and a total of 133 nursing NH and community‐dwelling older adults were enrolled in the study. Turkish death anxiety scale (TDAS), life satisfaction scale (SLS) and depression anxiety stress scale‐21 (DASS‐21) were used for the assessment. Results The majority of the older adults had no or mild depression, anxiety and stress symptoms in spite of the prolonged confinements, and were slightly satisfied with their lives. However, depression, anxiety, stress and TDAS levels were higher in participants aged 80 years and older. Residents of NHs had higher TDAS, depression and anxiety levels and lower SLS levels than community‐dwelling older adults. Participants who were meeting their children and/or grandchildren less than 2 h a week, were found to have significantly lower SLS and higher depression scores. The increase in depression and TDAS scores predicted a decrease in SLS scores in older adults. Conclusions As NH resident older adults have higher psychological distress and decreased life satisfaction due to the social isolation caused by the prolonged confinements, NH staff should be regularly informed on both preventive measures and mental health consequences of the pandemic, and should be trained for basic therapeutic interventions. Older adults should be supported to use telecommunication technologies to contact their families and friends, and participate in safe and accessible person‐centred activity programs.

Stimuli changes and challenging behavior in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…It has been recognized that COVID-19 measures have resulted in negative psychological and behavioral consequences for older adults with and without dementia [ 7 – 14 ]. Likewise, studies in long-term care settings have found increases in depression, anxiety, loneliness, and behavioral problems that were attributed to the COVID-19 restrictions [ 15 – 21 ].…”

What are the holistic care impacts among individuals living through the COVID‐19 pandemic in residential or community care settings? An integrative systematic review

“…The full text of all 33 remaining potentially eligible studies were retrieved, and 15 papers were excluded with reasons, leaving 18 studies included. The studies were published in a range of countries including: Spain (3) (Cortés Zamora et al, 2022; Pereiro et al, 2021; Pérez‐Rodríguez et al, 2021), Turkey (2) (Arpacıoğlu et al, 2021; Savci et al, 2021), United Kingdom (1) (Davies‐Abbott et al, 2021), New Zealand (1) (Cheung et al, 2021), Israel (1) (Ayalon & Avidor, 2021), France (1) (El Haj et al, 2020), China (1) (Ho et al, 2022), Switzerland (1) (Huber & Seifert, 2022), Canada (1) (Ickert et al, 2021), Belgium (1) (Kaelen et al, 2021), United States of America (1) (Levere et al, 2021), Sweden (1) (Lood et al, 2021), Ireland (1) (Murphy et al, 2022), Croatia (1) (Solić et al, 2021), and Thailand (1) (Srifuengfung et al, 2021). All studies were conducted during the COVID‐19 pandemic from early 2020 to mid‐2021.…”

“…It was common for residents to experience loneliness during the pandemic (Huber & Seifert, 2022) with moderate to severe negative impact on familial relationships (Arpacıoğlu et al, 2021; Savci et al, 2021; Srifuengfung et al, 2021). Many individuals started using modern forms of communication (such as FaceTime, Zoom, etc) to stay in social contact with others (Solić et al, 2021).…”

Frequency and correlates of driving status among the oldest old: results from a large, representative sample

“…Former research has been demonstrated that individuals living in institutionalized settings generally score lower in various health-related factors [ 22 ] and also in psychosocial factors [ 23 ] such as satisfaction with life. Thus, an association between living arrangement and driving status is very plausible.…”