Resilience in Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Socioecological Approach

Heidi Igarashi, Maria L Kurth, Hye Soo Lee, Soyoung Choun, Dylan Lee and Carolyn M Aldwin

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2022, vol. 77, issue 4, e64-e69

Abstract: ObjectivesWe examined sources of vulnerability and resilience among older adults early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.MethodsWe surveyed 235 respondents, 51–95 years old (M = 71.35; SD = 7.39; 74% female), including 2 open-ended questions concerning COVID-19-related difficulties and positive experiences during the past week. Using inductive coding, we found 9 final codes for difficulties and 12 for positives and grouped them into socioecological levels: personal, interpersonal, and societal.ResultsDifficulties were reported by 94% of the sample, while 63% described positives. Difficulties and positive responses were made at all socioecological levels and illustrated a dialectic between personal-level constraints and opportunities, interpersonal-level social isolation and integration, and societal-level outrage, sorrow, and social optimism.DiscussionRespondents described sources of vulnerabilities and resilience that supported a socioecological approach to understand resilience during this pandemic. A notable example was resilience derived from witnessing and contributing to the community and social solidarity, highlighting the potential of older adults as resources to their communities during the global pandemic.

Keywords: Community; COVID-19; Qualitative methods; Stress (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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