The social support networks of elderly people in Slovenia during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Population ageing requires society to adjust by ensuring additional types of services and assistance for elderly people. These may be provided by either organized services and sources of informal social support. The latter are especially important since a lack of social support is associated with a lower level of psychological and physical well-being. During the Covid-19 pandemic, social support for the elderly has proven to be even more crucial, also due to physical distancing. Therefore, this study aims to identify and describe the various types of personal social support networks available to the elderly population during the pandemic. To this end, a survey of Slovenians older than 64 years was conducted from April 25 to May 4, 2020 on a probability web-panel-based sample (n = 605). The ego networks were clustered by a hierarchical clustering approach for symbolic data. Clustering was performed for different types of social support (socializing, instrumental support, emotional support) and different characteristics of the social support networks (i.e., type of relationship, number of contacts, geographical distance). The results show that most of the elderly population in Slovenia has a satisfactory social support network, while the share of those without any (accessible) source of social support is significant. The results are particularly valuable for sustainable care policy planning, crisis intervention planning as well as any future waves of the coronavirus.

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“…Social support is a multidimensional concept that may be defined as "the aid -the supply of tangible or intangible resources -individuals gain from their network members" (19). The current results indicated that social support was a top need of cancer patients during the Shanghai lockdown.…”

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“…It has also been reported that the pandemic has affected other vulnerable groups more, along with the elderly, by increasing social inequalities in various dimensions, especially health services, in all countries (13)(14)(15). Therefore, it has been emphasized that solidarity with the elderly is important during the epidemic, and it has been reported that the social support that will be provided together with the protection and support will positively affect the health of elderly (11,16). In this study, the fact that the monthly incomes of elderly were less than their expenses, more than three-quarters was unemployed, and the majority have a low level of education indicate that they are a disadvantaged group that could be affected negatively by the epidemic, in line with the literature.…”

“…The questionnaire used in the research was developed by the researcher based on the literature (9)(10)(11)(12). The first part of the 24-item, the two-part questionnaire consists of eight items on sociodemographic characteristics, and the second part consists of 18 items that determine the status of taking medicine and the opinions of elderly regarding drug management during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

COVID -19 in Geriatric Population

“…They give their best every day this is important for those providing health and social care to older people living in their communities or long term care facilities. These are our colleagues who care for those who are among the most vulnerable: people with frailty and those living with dementia [2]. The Previous studies showed that telehealth system very helpful prior to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic [9].…”

“…Geriatric assessment programs have become a growing component of the health care delivery system for the elderly in the United States [1]. The Covid-19 pandemic (SARS-CoV-2) has affected masses of people around the world, with some being disproportionally exposed to the associated risk due to their age, employment status, financial status, illness or other factors, One such group is the elderly, who are not only vulnerable by being at greater risk of death [2]. The most prominent clinical signs that were manifested by the COVID-19 patients are fever, coughing, pneumonia, chest pain with bilaterally consolidated lungs, etc.…”