Suddenly at risk: Older adults’ changes in everyday life early on during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT:
Introduction / Rationale: From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing was recommended for adults 70 years and older (70+) in Sweden. From an outside view, they then became deprived of possibilities to engage in meaningful activities. However, as meaning is highly subjective, we need to listen to older adults’ voices to really know.

Objectives: To explore how adults 70+ experienced and managed changes in everyday life due to the COVID-19 pandemic and how those changes affected wellbeing at the beginning of the virus outbreak.

Method / Approach: Eleven women and six men, (mean age 76 years), living in ordinary housing, participated in remote semi-structured interviews in April and June 2020. The interviews were analysed with qualitative content analysis.

Results: An overall theme Suddenly at risk – “…but it could have been worse” and four categories emerged from the data analysis. The participants had to accept some changes summarized in the first category; my world closed down. They described continuous negotiations, adaptations and prioritizations to manage staying at home in the second category, but they also experienced contextual barriers and facilitators to sustain occupational participation as the third category elucidate, where e.g. the shift of seasons facilitated social activities. Their experiences of health and wellbeing varied and are captured in the fourth category, considerations about my own and other’s health and wellbeing.

Conclusion: The participants questioned previous conceptions of meaning in relation to habitual activities, likely leading to consistent occupational changes, potentially affecting health and well-bring also beyond the pandemic.