Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent protection measures brought significant changes to the lives of the elderly who, being part of the risk group of the disease, began to be isolated. Such isolation can have harmful effects on mental health, being a risk factor for the development of psychopathologies. In view of this scenario, we were asked to adapt and adapt our strategies to mitigate the psychosocial effects of quarantine among the elderly. The project “O de casa: abrindo as janelas da vida” aimed to carry out an online psychosocial intervention with elderly participants in the Universidade Aberta a Terceira Idade at a public university in the state of Bahia. We developed activities to strengthen the support networks of the elderly participants, promoting reflection and care, enabling the psychoeducation of mental health issues and cognitive stimulation. The activities took place during 29 weeks of the year 2020. Weekly meetings were held, synchronously, through a virtual meeting platform, and asynchronous activities twice a week, through WhatsApp. The activities developed included group video calls, in which we adopted a psychoeducative approach on cognitive functions; exercises and challenges for cognitive stimulation; dissemination of classes, workshops and virtual lectures; and the Anjo Virtual, on which each participant received the contact of another participant, becoming responsible for talking to that person during the week. Sharing feelings, experiences and information, as well as the supporting and the strengthening the support networks of the elderly participants were some of the results achieved, being essential factors to reduce the psychosocial impacts on people in vulnerable situations and in need of support in the context of the pandemic. The intervention found, however, challenges being carried out in a virtual modality, both due to difficulties in handling the technologies used by the elderly, and due to the characteristics of cyberspace, which required flexibility in the planning and execution of activities, involving experimentation within ethical limits.
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