Abstract
This exploratory study examined elderly African Americans attitudes on the COVID-19 pandemic by identifying their perceptions of risk based personal, social, and cultural factors. It seeks to understand their insights toward public health pandemic response initiatives and other efforts to mitigate COVID-19 outbreak response measures impacting elderly African Americans, including policies, interventions, and public information/communication. The effectiveness of pandemic response measures and community caregiving support for the elderly African Americans was examined as well. Respondents in this study were a convenient sample of 60 residents predominantly in a Midwestern metropolitan area. Respondents were eligible for study participation if 1) there were 60 years and over and, 2) African American or people of African descent. A mixed research method design comprising focus groups and online survey was used to collect the data for the study. The respondents characterized the impact of the coronavirus as a personal, family, and community loss (e.g., less socially engaged and burdensome). An overwhelming majority (98.3%) expressed no worries about getting health care if they or their family members needed it. A sizable number of respondents expressed the need for all to be tested to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Highlights
This exploratory study examined elderly African Americans attitudes on the COVID-19 pandemic by identifying their perceptions of risk based personal, social, and cultural factors
It seeks to understand their insights toward public health pandemic response initiatives and other efforts to mitigate COVID-19 outbreak response measures impacting elderly African Americans, including policies, interventions, and public information/communication
This study explored the African American response to being described as the “most likely to die” from COVID-19
Summary
This exploratory study examined elderly African Americans attitudes on the COVID-19 pandemic by identifying their perceptions of risk based personal, social, and cultural factors. It seeks to understand their insights toward public health pandemic response initiatives and other efforts to mitigate COVID-19 outbreak response measures impacting elderly African Americans, including policies, interventions, and public information/communication. COVID-19, Elderly African Americans, Risk Perception, Symptoms of the Coronavirus, Attitude toward Testing, Health Care Experience. According to the World Health Organization [2], people of all ages can be infected by COVID-19, older adults and individuals with pre-existing medical conditions who are more vulnerable and most likely to become severely ill. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention [4], 8 out of 10 COVID-19-related deaths reported in the United States have been among adults aged 65 years and older with the majority over 85 years of age [4]
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