Supporting Social Connectedness of Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Small and Rural Public Libraries

Lenstra, Noah; Oguz, Fatih; Winberry, Joseph; Wilson, Lindsey S.

doi:10.1080/01616846.2021.1970446

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Findings also indicate that interviewees lived with families and could maintain social connectedness during the pandemic. Older adults can and do avoid isolation and loneliness and reduce health anxiety during the pandemic through receiving necessary emotional, financial, or other support from important social connections with families, friends, and neighbors ( 28 , 64 , 65 ). Moreover, these findings are consistent with existing ones that demonstrate that, with the assistance of ICTs, older adults can get timely health information and other health-promoting resources from robust connections ( 16 , 54 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Has the Nationwide Public Health Emergency of the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Older Chinese Adults' Health Literacy, Health Behaviors and Practices, and Social Connectedness? Qualitative Evidence From Urban China

Chai

2022

Front. Public Health

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Older Chinese adults' daily lives have been affected significantly during the outbreak phase of the COVID-19 pandemic since January 2020. They were confronted with activity restrictions due to strict pandemic prevention. The older population also had to get accustomed to widely-used modern technologies in community management, such as health codes and WeChat groups. By late 2021, mainland China had reduced the prevalence of COVID-19, and people's daily lives had primarily returned to pre-pandemic normality. Under China's systematic health management during the pandemic, older Chinese adults' responses to this nationwide public health emergency may have influenced their health in the long run. However, it remains unclear what specific health changes or improvements have occurred. Such a void in the literature is worrying, given that older adults are at high health risks due to the pandemic which, might still be with humankind for a while. Thus, it is of necessity to explore and report their health changes after this official, large-scale health intervention. In this study, 17 adults aged 55 and above were recruited as interviewees. All interviewees reside in a community located in Q district, N city of the People's Republic of China. According to the findings, many interviewees now have better literacy in health risk prevention. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) play a significant role in getting access to health information. Specifically, television, WeChat chatting groups, and TikTok could be valuable information sources for older adults. As for the understanding and evaluation of health information, although older participants can distinguish COVID-19 rumors, they may sometimes feel confused about the underlying scientific logic. Regarding changes in health behaviors and practices, many older adults can integrate health information and knowledge into their daily lives. Additionally, although interviewees can keep important social connections, not all of them are familiar with using new ICTs, such as online chatting group, for social participation and engagement. The empirical evidence suggests that both the communities and the local governments can offer specific training programs to older residents for the sake of enhancing their health literacy, health behaviors and practices, and social connectedness during and after the pandemic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Has the Nationwide Public Health Emergency of the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Older Chinese Adults' Health Literacy, Health Behaviors and Practices, and Social Connectedness? Qualitative Evidence From Urban China

Chai

2022

Front. Public Health

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“…3.1.4 Social connectedness. Social connectedness refers to having substantive relationships with other people, groups and institutions (Lenstra et al, 2021). Students often share videos hosted on an online video sharing platform such as YouTube where they can comment on the strength and weaknesses of the videos shared and the content they liked or disliked in the shared videos with an audience beyond just current students, thereby forming a larger community of users for learning skills and knowledge on diverse topics (Meyers, 2014).…”

Section: Selective Choosing Of Sources and Channelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Social connectedness refers to having substantive relationships with other people, groups and institutions (Lenstra et al. , 2021).…”

Section: Information Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seven information practices for alleviating information vulnerability

Potnis

Winberry

2021

Self Cite

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PurposeThis literature review aims to identify conscious, intentional, repetitive and transferrable information-related decisions and activities (i.e. information practices) for individuals to alleviate their information vulnerability. Information vulnerability refers to the lack of access to accurate, affordable, complete, relevant and timely information or the inability to use such information, which can place individuals, communities or society at disadvantage or hurt them.Design/methodology/approachConceptual literature review.FindingsThis review presents seven conscious, intentional, repetitive and transferrable information practices to alleviate information vulnerability.Practical implicationsDue to the transferability potential of the seven information practices, diverse populations in varied contexts could refer to, adapt and benefit from appropriate combinations of information practices and their manifestations. The framework can be used by individuals for alleviating information vulnerability. Thus, this paper responds to the call for conducting action-driven research in information science for addressing real-world problems. Information professionals can help individuals select and implement appropriate combinations of seven information practices for alleviating information vulnerability.Originality/valueWe propose (1) a parsimonious, episodic framework for alleviating information vulnerability, which depicts the inter-relationship among the seven information practices and (2) a three-dimensional plot with information access, use and value as three axes to map the manifestation and outcome of alleviating information vulnerability.

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“…Reading groups, which have been conventionally created to address the special needs of particular categories of users, such as the disadvantaged groups of the population (Morgan, 2014) and young people (Burgos, 2018), have been conceived of as valuable strategies to enhance the libraries' image in the virtual domain (Balling et al, 2008) and to boost their ability to address the unprecedented issues triggered by the Covid-19 (Corble and van Melik, 2021). Moreover, online conferences and meetings with publishers, editors and authors allow libraries to establish a bridge with users, filling the distances created by the pandemic (Lenstra et al, 2021;Ortega-Mart ınez et al, 2021). Finally, libraries may exploit the potential of social media to enact more direct and vivid exchanges with users and engage them in the arrangement of the libraries' service offering (Gmiterek, 2021).…”

Section: Conceptual Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thriving in the post-Covid-19 era: a new normality for libraries' service offering

Palumbo

2022

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PurposeSocial distancing and physical closure triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic put the libraries' viability under stress. Although the spread of the pandemic enacted a new normality for library management, little is known about the ingredients that are needed in the recipe for increased libraries' attractiveness. The article addresses the current gap in the scientific knowledge, unveiling what libraries can do to thrive in the post-Covid-19 era.Design/methodology/approachSecondary data were collected from the census study accomplished in 2020 by the Italian Institute of Statistics on a large sample (n = 3,531) of libraries operating across Italy. Three regression models were run to obtain evidence of the factors affecting the capability of small-, medium- and large-sized libraries to attract users amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.FindingsDigitization did not significantly add to the attractiveness of libraries. Users appreciated the enrichment of loan services: more specifically, enabling people to access loan services online boosted the libraries' attractiveness. Furthermore, virtual reading groups, online laboratories and social networking improved the libraries' ability to attract users. Medium-sized libraries involved in literacy promotion reported a larger number of users.Practical implicationsLibraries should reframe their encounter with the audience sticking to a cyber-physical perspective, exploiting digital tools to establish a continuous exchange with users and engage them in a service experience which is aimed at individual and collective empowerment.Originality/valueThe article advances the understanding of the new normality heralded by the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, it illuminates avenues for further development to shed light on the libraries' ability to thrive in the post-pandemic era.

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Supporting Social Connectedness of Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Small and Rural Public Libraries

Cited by 13 publications

References 45 publications

How Has the Nationwide Public Health Emergency of the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Older Chinese Adults' Health Literacy, Health Behaviors and Practices, and Social Connectedness? Qualitative Evidence From Urban China

How Has the Nationwide Public Health Emergency of the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Older Chinese Adults' Health Literacy, Health Behaviors and Practices, and Social Connectedness? Qualitative Evidence From Urban China

Seven information practices for alleviating information vulnerability

Thriving in the post-Covid-19 era: a new normality for libraries' service offering

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