Older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic – Forgotten and stigmatized?

Older adults and feelings of being in a risk group

During the current pandemic, older people have found themselves in a lifestyle characterized by restrictions on both direct social contact and out-of-home mobility (Hwang et al., 2020). This may lead them to critically reflect on their own age, as they are now grouped with all other people over age 65 into a homogeneous risk group. While future COVID-19-specific national studies are needed to provide empirical evidence, this group classification may cause older people to feel not only physically isolated but also frail and at risk. That is, society’s blanket use of age to determine risk level does not reflect the heterogeneity among older adults, instead conveying a picture of a homogeneous group of fragile people – a picture that has long been abandoned by gerontology (Ayalon et al., 2020). Defining people by their age can lead not only to societal age discrimination but also to individual negative self-perceptions (Losada-Baltar et al., 2020).

Current discussions within gerontological social work

Response to the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that older people are often grouped into a single 65+ risk group. Given the disease’s age-related multimorbidity and increasing mortality rate, the initial responses of the Swiss government and the FOPH seem to make sense for promoting general protection, but they are not justified from a scientific perspective (Ayalon et al., 2020). Putting all people over age 65 into one group neglects the heterogeneity of these individuals and their diverse plans, situations, and lifestyles. In addition, such a one-dimensional view carries the danger of cementing an image of old age that no longer corresponds to empirical evidence or everyday experience. Stigmatizing all older people as sick, fragile, and helpless reinforces an image of this group as a social burden – an image that worries many people working in the field of aging because it promotes age discrimination and strains relationships between the young and old, which is all the more troubling during this already-tense time.

Another aspect of the current pandemic is the emergence of digital solutions to meet the social needs of older adults. The current pandemic and its associated social distancing have prompted use of virtual methods, such as online video chatting, for connecting older adults with family members, friends, and even gerontological social workers. However, older adults, especially those within long-term care facilities, often lack access to digital services because they are reluctant to learn and use new technologies (e.g. smartphones, Internet, tablets) (Seifert and Cotten, 2020). Such reluctance may also limit their access to useful online services and content, such as health information, social events, social networking, and online shopping. Nonparticipation in the digital world during times of physical distancing may intensify feelings of social exclusion (Seifert et al., 2020). Therefore, digital solutions during the pandemic may be a good solution only for older adults who are digitally savvy, while those who are socially and digitally isolated should be particularly targeted for social work.

Despite the problems with perceiving older adults as a homogeneous risk group and the potential isolation of older people who are not digitally savvy, solidarity between the generations and among neighbors has generally been strengthened by the current crisis (Brooke and Clark, 2020; Jones et al., 2020). Creative solutions have emerged, such as telephone networking to do shopping for older neighbors. Such initiatives demonstrate the potential that exists in local social spaces during a pandemic.

What can gerontological social workers do?

The questions ‘How can we help the older adults who are struggling most with the crisis?’ and ‘What can we do for those who are isolated, feel lonely, or need help?’ arise. This is where the intervention and coordination of practical social gerontology can help.

First, social workers can contribute to discussions about being old during a crisis, highlighting the diversity of older people and clarifying that ‘old age’ is not a uniform designation but rather encompasses people with varying financial, social, individual, physical, and cognitive resources – resources that are age-related but not fully determined by age. Such diversity means that people will differ strikingly on how well they manage the crisis. Those older people who are most affected by the pandemic and its associated protective measures should be filtered from the large group of people over 65 and targeted for gerontological social work. However, it is well known that it is precisely these people – those not in the public eye and not calling loudly for support – who are often the most difficult to reach. Therefore, it makes sense to identify and address this group through practical outreach work.

Second, gerontological social work can also be applied wherever sources of solidarity are currently evident – in other words, in community-based initiatives to care for older people (Guerrero et al., 2020). Even if new informal and formal aid networks have been established, it is unknown to what extent they will remain in place after the pandemic. Therefore, we should start supporting fragile networks by, for example, coordinating neighborhood management or assistance programs. Ideas are needed now for how to maximize the volunteer potential sparked by the pandemic. However, we must avoid the misconception that this help is always one-sided, that is, that the older person is always the recipient of help. Indeed, studies repeatedly show that neighborly help is mutual and that it is this give-and-take process that increases neighborhood social cohesion (Cramm et al., 2013; Seifert and König, 2019).

Nevertheless, there is still little information about how COVID-19 protective measures and the resulting social isolation are affecting older adults. Presumably, we will learn more from retrospective studies following the pandemic, but we should seek now to understand how the pandemic affects older people and how practical gerontology can best respond.