Brooke Joanne, Dunford Sandra, Clark Maria
Centre of Social Care, Health and Related Research, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK.
Health, Education and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK.
Int J Older People Nurs. 2022 Sep;17(5):e12459. doi: 10.1111/opn.12459. Epub 2022 Mar 23.
Due to the global pandemic, governments have enforced household isolation and social distancing to reduce infection and mortality rate. However, the impact of prolonged enforced isolation for older people who are prone to social isolation and loneliness has yet to be understood.
A longitudinal study to understand the lived experience of people aged 70 and older, living in England during COVID-19 restrictions.
All participants completed five qualitative telephone interviews from 20 April to 7 July 2020. The majority completed individual interviews (n = 13), whilst two participants completed these interviews as a couple. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis completed from the perspective of hermeneutic phenomenology.
Three themes included (1) engagement and confusion with government restrictions; (2) socialisation through virtual platforms and opportunistic physical social contact; and (3) accessing health care during COVID-19 restrictions.
Older people are committed to following government restrictions, and government campaigns need to consider the potential impact of placing an emphasis on avoiding healthcare services. Virtual platforms are supportive but not sufficient to reduce social isolation and loneliness of older people. Thus, nurses supporting older people living in the community need to understand these concepts to provide holistic care and support older people's mental and physical health.
Nurses are ideally placed to support older people to understand the current government restrictions, when to attend acute healthcare services or to engage virtually with healthcare appointments, and to discuss the risks of physically socialising with others.
由于全球疫情大流行，各国政府实施了家庭隔离和社交距离措施，以降低感染率和死亡率。然而，长期强制隔离对那些容易出现社会隔离和孤独感的老年人的影响尚不清楚。
进行一项纵向研究，以了解在新冠疫情限制措施期间居住在英格兰的70岁及以上老年人的生活经历。
所有参与者在2020年4月20日至7月7日期间完成了五次定性电话访谈。大多数参与者完成了个人访谈（n = 13），而两名参与者以夫妻形式完成了这些访谈。访谈进行了录音，逐字转录，并从诠释现象学的角度完成了主题分析。
三个主题包括：（1）对政府限制措施的参与和困惑；（2）通过虚拟平台进行社交以及机会性的面对面社交接触；（3）在新冠疫情限制措施期间获取医疗保健服务。
老年人致力于遵守政府的限制措施，政府的宣传活动需要考虑强调避免使用医疗保健服务可能产生的潜在影响。虚拟平台有一定帮助，但不足以减少老年人的社会隔离和孤独感。因此，为社区老年人提供支持的护士需要理解这些概念，以便提供全面的护理，支持老年人的身心健康。
护士处于理想位置，能够支持老年人理解当前政府的限制措施、何时前往急症医疗服务机构或通过虚拟方式进行医疗预约，并讨论与他人进行面对面社交的风险。
