260 EXPLORING OLDER PEOPLE’S EXPERIENCES OF SHIELDING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

Abstract Background COVID-19 has resulted in large scale infection rates, significant death rates and an economic crisis for many countries. Older people were identified as being in a high-risk group in terms of morbidity severity and mortality rates. This led to many governments recommending older people shield as a protective, public health measure. This study considers how older people experienced shielding in an urban area of Ireland. Methods Twenty participants were recruited through nursing services in one Community Healthcare Organisation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted between 14/1/21 to 8/3/21 and analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Results Two overarching themes were identified: 1) Shielding experienced as a social disruption: Compliance resulted in transformed lives with marked impacts on social roles, identities, ways of living as well as the personal consequences of adhering to restrictions. Older participants spoke of careful strategies of self-protection and acute awareness of the personal and societal effects of the ongoing pandemic. 2) Coping with and countering social disruption: Participants described strategies they engaged in to adapt to, resist, address or avoid the impacts of shielding that challenged pre-COVID-19 social roles, identities, or ways of living. Conclusion As global societies slowly emerge from the pandemic, particularly in the context of vaccination roll out, older people’s experiences are important to acknowledge. In this study, there was evidence of both the resilience of older people but also the multi-faceted negative impact on their health and welfare. In addition, the experience of the pandemic has highlighted pre-existing service issues (home care service provision fragmentation), digital divides and the lack of older people’s voices in political decision making. This points to the need to have robust, and accessible rehabilitation services incorporating comprehensive geriatric assessment and to reform health care delivery to enhance capacity to sustain services in pandemic times.