Pandemic Disruptions of Older Adults’ Meaningful Connections: Linking Spirituality and Religion to Suffering and Resilience

McFadden, Susan H.

doi:10.3390/rel13070622

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 62 publications

(49 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These were especially timely and important shares because older Canadians experienced seven waves of COVID-19 (Detsky & Bogoch, 2022). Shared hardships might also leave people on an uneven spiritual keel, perhaps questioning and even altering spiritual practices that should keep the self and others in safer hands (McFadden, 2022;Upinieks, 2022). Very nearly one-quarter of messengers overtly called for some degree of guardedness around personal protective equipment, such as through masking and handwashing, and getting vaccines.…”

Section: Main Findings and Interpretationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Content Analysis of Perceived Social Isolation Remedies Shared in a National E-Survey (Preprint)

Low,

von Humboldt,

Gloria

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BACKGROUND Older people are experts on what a quality social life looks like while living most at risk for COVID-19-related health harms. Older Canadians have helped raise awareness of the physical and mental detriments of social isolation. Remedial initiatives that build on older people’s lived experiences are also important initiatives. OBJECTIVE When public health restrictions were lifted in the Summer of 2022, we aimed to collect evidence grounded in older people’s everyday lived experiences about transitioning into open spaces while COVID-19 still lingered. METHODS This study was part of a larger e-survey project about mentally healthy living among 1,327 community-dwelling persons 60+ years of age. A sample stratified by age, sex, and education to approximate the Canadian population was asked: With COVID-19 public health measures lifting, based on your own experience, what would you suggest other older Canadians do to reduce social isolation? They responded as they saw fit. RESULTS Content analysis of 1,189 open-text messages revealed four calls to action: 1) Cultivating community; 2) Making room for what’s good; 3) Don’t let your guard down; and 4) Voiced out challenges. All four remedies were similarly endorsed, regardless of messengers’ age, sex, gender identity, and perceived health. Making room for what’s good seemed more amiable for those navigating newly open spaces without a chronic illness. Education level was linked with endorsing guarded social transitions. CONCLUSIONS While COVID-19 is no longer a global health risk, a worrisome proportion of older people still live more isolated lives. We encourage health and social care practitioners and older people themselves to share the messages identified in this study with more isolated others.

show abstract

Section: Main Findings and Interpretationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Content Analysis of Perceived Social Isolation Remedies Shared in a National E-Survey (Preprint)

Low,

von Humboldt,

Gloria

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Sharing such hardships could help others weather and/or see the upside about their own lives [69,70]. Shared hardships can also leave people on an uneven spiritual keel, perhaps questioning and even altering spiritual practices that should keep the self and others in safer hands [71,72].…”

Section: Main Findings and Interpretationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitigating Social Isolation Following the COVID-19 Pandemic: Remedy Messages Shared by Older People

Low,

Humboldt,

Gutman

et al. 2024

COVID

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

At the beginning of July 2022, when public health restrictions were lifted, we deployed a country-wide e-survey about how older people were managing now after COVID-19 pandemic-related anxiety. Our responder sample was stratified by age, sex, and education to approximate the Canadian population. E-survey responders were asked to share open-text messages about what contemporaries could do to live less socially isolated lives at this tenuous turning point following the pandemic as the COVID-19 virus still lingered. Contracting COVID-19 enhanced older Canadians’ risk for being hospitalized and/or mortality risk. Messages were shared by 1189 of our 1327 e-survey responders. Content analysis revealed the following four calls to action: (1) cultivating community; (2) making room for what is good; (3) not letting your guard down; and (4) voicing out challenges. Responders with no chronic illnesses were more likely to endorse making room for what is good. Those with no diploma, degree, or certificate least frequently instructed others to not let their guard down. While COVID-19 is no longer a major public health risk, a worrisome proportion of older people across the globe are still living socially isolated. We encourage health and social care practitioners and older people to share messages identified in this study with more isolated persons.

show abstract

“…In the literature, there are studies focused on the individual dimensions of connectedness, such as social connectedness [12][13][14] or spiritual connectedness [15,16]. However, older adults do not experience connectedness one by one, as an individual area, but rather as a whole, shared experience.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Connectedness and Successful Aging of Older Adults in Croatia

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Connectedness is a multidimensional human experience that is essential to successful aging. The aims of this cross-sectional study were to assess connectedness and self-perception of successful aging in older people, to examine whether there are differences in relation to basic characteristics, and to examine whether there is a connection between connectedness and self-perception of successful aging. The respondents were elderly people in the Republic of Croatia. Data were collected using two validated scales: Croatian versions of the Register–Connectedness Scale for Older Adults and the Self-Assessment Scale of Successful Aging. The study included 824 respondents, of which 319 (38.7%) were men and 505 (61.3%) were women. The median age was 72 years. The median connectivity of the respondents was 8.9 (IQR= 7.6–10.2), and the median rating of successful aging was 3.25 (IQR = 1–5). Spearman’s correlation coefficient ρ (p value) was 0.585 (<0.001). Connectivity was rated better by respondents with a higher level of education, who were married, resided in their own homes, used modern technologies, and were active in the community. There is a significant positive association between connectedness and the self-perception of successful aging overall, as well as in all individual connectedness domains.

show abstract

Pandemic Disruptions of Older Adults’ Meaningful Connections: Linking Spirituality and Religion to Suffering and Resilience

Cited by 5 publications

References 62 publications

Content Analysis of Perceived Social Isolation Remedies Shared in a National E-Survey (Preprint)

Content Analysis of Perceived Social Isolation Remedies Shared in a National E-Survey (Preprint)

Mitigating Social Isolation Following the COVID-19 Pandemic: Remedy Messages Shared by Older People

Connectedness and Successful Aging of Older Adults in Croatia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About