A hundred days in confinement: Doing, being, becoming, and belonging among older people in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: When and how people were able to engage in everyday occupations changed suddenly with the coronavirus pandemic. Defined as a risk group due to their age, people 70 years and older in Sweden experienced confinement, as did older adults globally. Aim: To explore how doing, being, becoming, and belonging as dimensions of occupation were manifested in the lives of Swedish people 70 years or older, 100 days into the coronavirus pandemic. Method: Data were elicited through semi-structured interviews with 17 participants (11 women, 6 six men, mean age 76 years), living in ordinary housing in Sweden. Interviews were conducted in June 2020 as part of a larger longitudinal research project. A directed content analysis approach was used to analyse the data based on the occupational dimensions of doing, being, becoming, and belonging. Results: After 100 days of confinement, daily occupations had been changed, and habits and routines disrupted. However, the need to engage in occupations was strong. Participants expressed how they adapted their occupations to the restrictions, but also how their doing affected their well-being, further development, and opportunities for social interactions. Conclusion: The participants, who were older people without any specific diagnosis, reflected upon their daily occupations during an unrehearsed natural experiment when, more than anything else, the social environmental circumstances changed. The analysis elucidates how doing, being, becoming, and belonging is embedded in people’s lives. The study can serve as a foundation to further research on understanding people’s individual needs as occupational beings.