scholarly journals Coping During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study of Older Adults Across the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica M. Finlay ◽  
Jasdeep S. Kler ◽  
Brendan Q. O'Shea ◽  
Marisa R. Eastman ◽  
Yamani R. Vinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Sample Mean

Objective: Older adults may struggle with stresses and daily life challenges associated with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Yet they may also utilize emotional and behavioral coping strategies. This qualitative paper aims to identify ways of coping with worries and stress during the pandemic from the perspectives of older adults in the United States.Methods: The COVID-19 Coping Study recruited 6,938 adults aged ≥55 through online multi-frame sampling from April 2-May 31, 2020 across all 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The online questionnaire focused on the effects of COVID-19 on daily life, mental health, and well-being. This included an open-ended question regarding participants' coping strategies. We used qualitative content analysis to identify and code diverse coping strategies. Our general inductive approach enabled findings to emerge from the most frequent and dominant themes in the raw data.Results: A total of 5,180 adults [74% of the total sample; mean age 67.3 (SD 7.9); 63.8% female] responded to the question about using strategies to cope with living through the COVID-19 pandemic. Frequently-reported strategies included exercising and going outdoors, modifying routines, following public health guidelines, adjusting attitudes, and staying socially connected. Some coping strategies were health-limiting (e.g., overeating), while most strategies encouraged self-improvement, positive adjustment, and wellness.Conclusions: This study provides novel qualitative evidence on coping strategies of older adults early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings can inform community and clinical interventions to support older adults that harness positive coping strategies such as exercise, modified routines, and social strategies to improve physical and mental health, foster social support, and encourage meaningful daily activities during times of stress and trauma.

Child Maltreatment

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yo Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Child Maltreatment ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Physical And Mental Health

Child maltreatment is acting or failure to act on the part of a caretaker in a manner that poses a threat to a child’s well-being, health, and safety. The present chapter reviews the prevalence and nature of child maltreatment in the United States. The types of abuse, qualities of perpetrators, and physical and mental health outcomes on youth victims are also presented. Assessment tools for identifying abuse and the effects of abuse are discussed along with evidence-based methods for intervention for families exposed to child maltreatment. Along with a case example, recommendations for improving the knowledge base on child maltreatment are presented along with suggestions for refining methods for assessing and treating child maltreatment. Implications for clinical practice are also examined.

scholarly journals The impact of COVID-19 on the well-being and cognition of older adults living in the United States and Latin America

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 100848
Author(s):  
Ganesh M. Babulal ◽  
Valeria L. Torres ◽  
Daisy Acosta ◽  
Cinthya Agüero ◽  
Sara Aguilar-Navarro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Food Insecurity in the United States: Identification, Treatment, and Implications

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 772-773
Author(s):  
Rose Ann DiMaria-Ghalili ◽  
Connie Bales ◽  
Julie Locher
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Clinic ◽  
High Risk Population ◽  
Geriatric Syndrome ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Food insecurity is an under-recognized geriatric syndrome that has extensive implications in the overall health and well-being of older adults. Understanding the impact of food insecurity in older adults is a first step in identifying at-risk populations and provides a framework for potential interventions in both hospital and community-based settings. This symposium will provide an overview of current prevalence rates of food insecurity using large population-based datasets. We will present a summary indicator that expands measurement to include the functional and social support limitations (e.g., community disability, social isolation, frailty, and being homebound), which disproportionately impact older adults, and in turn their rate and experience of food insecurity and inadequate food access. We will illustrate using an example of at-risk seniors the association between sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and function, with rates of food security in the United States. The translational aspect of the symposium will then focus on identification of psychosocial and environmental risk factors including food insecurity in older veterans preparing for surgery within the Veterans Affairs Perioperative Optimization of Senior Health clinic. Gaining insights into the importance of food insecurity will lay the foundation for an intervention for food insecurity in the deep south. Our discussant will provide an overview of the implications of these results from a public health standpoint. By highlighting the importance of food insecurity, such data can potentially become a framework to allow policy makers to expand nutritional programs as a line of defense against hunger in this high-risk population.

scholarly journals COVID-19 as a Stressor: Pandemic Expectations, Perceived Stress, and Negative Affect in Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda R Whitehead
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
And Coping

Abstract Objectives The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic is appraised as a stressor influences perceived stress (PS) and psychological well-being during the event. Here, the association of older adults’ expectations concerning the pandemic’s duration and impact with PS and negative affect (NA) is investigated. Based on the stress and coping framework, PS is expected to mediate the association between COVID-19 expectations and NA. Methods Seven hundred fourteen residents of the United States and aged 60 and older completed an anonymous online survey in late March 2020 reporting PS, NA, and expectations regarding the pandemic. Results Regression analyses controlling for demographic factors revealed that more dire pandemic expectations significantly predicted PS and NA directly, and the effects on NA were significantly mediated by PS. Discussion Findings provide evidence that expectations about a pandemic influence the extent to which older adults experience stress and NA in the midst of a pandemic event. Implications for mental health are discussed.

Hard Time

Affilia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel C. Casey
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Hard Time ◽  
Personal Accounts

As the number of women incarcerated in the United States continues to rise and their complex needs become more apparent, social workers must fortify their historical commitment to criminal justice reform. However, crafting more effective and compassionate responses to the needs of justice-involved women may very well require a more nuanced understanding of the holistic impact of incarceration on women’s well-being than the current literature offers. Utilizing the framework of feminist standpoint epistemology, the researcher engaged in qualitative content analysis to examine published personal accounts from 43 women to better understand their experiences in prisons and jails in the United States. Two overarching themes emerged from the analysis. First, the personal accounts illustrated that women experience prisons and jails as environments of denial insofar as these carceral environments deny women’s basic needs, their sense of humanity, and their personal power. The second overarching theme pertains to the holistic impact of the carceral environment upon women’s lives, meaning it has expansive effects on women’s biopsychosocial–spiritual functioning. Social workers should dedicate efforts to dramatically reducing the number of women behind bars and engaging in holistic intervention approaches that might counteract the negative effects of incarceration across domains of well-being.

scholarly journals Older Adults in the United States and COVID-19: A Qualitative Study of Perceptions, Finances, Coping, and Emotions

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Turner Goins ◽  
Elizabeth Anderson ◽  
Hannah Minick ◽  
Heather Daniels
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
News Media ◽  
Emotional Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Stress Appraisal ◽  
Risk Of Death ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Precautionary Measures

Introduction: Older adults have the poorest coronavirus (COVID-19) prognosis with the highest risk of death due to complications, making their COVID-19 experiences particularly important. Guided by the stress-appraisal-coping theoretical model, we sought to understand COVID-related perceptions and behaviors of older adults residing in the United States.Materials and Methods: We used convenience sampling to recruit persons with the following inclusion criteria: Aged ≥ 65 years, English fluency, and U.S. residency. Semi structured in-depth interviews were conducted remotely and audio recorded between April 25, 2020 and May 7, 2020. Interviews were professionally transcribed with a final study sample of 43. A low-inference qualitative descriptive design was used to provide a situated understanding of participants' life experiences using their naturalistic expressions.Results: The mean age of participants was 72.4 ± 6.7. Slightly over half were female (55.8%), 90.6% were White, and 18.6% lived alone. The largest percentages of participants resided in a rural area (27.9%) or small city (25.6%). We identified four themes, including (1) risk perception, (2) financial impact, (3) coping, and (4) emotions. Most participants were aware of their greater risk for poor COVID-19 outcomes but many did not believe in their increased risk. Financial circumstances because of the pandemic varied with largely no financial impacts, while others reported negative impacts and a few reported positive impacts. Coping was problem- and emotion-focused. Problem-focused coping included precautionary efforts and emotion-focused coping included creating daily structure, pursuing new and/or creative activities, connecting with others in new ways, and minimizing news media exposure. Overall, emotional health was negatively affected by the pandemic although some participants reported positive emotional experiences.Conclusions: Perceiving themselves as high risk for COVID-19 complications, older adults used precautionary measures to protect themselves from contracting the virus. The precautionary measures included social isolation, which can negatively affect mental health. Older adults will need to be resourceful and draw on existing resources to cope, such as engaging in creative activities and new strategies to connect with others. Our findings underscore the importance of the preservation of mental health during extended periods of isolation by taking advantage of low-to-no-cost existing resources.

scholarly journals QOL-51. LISTENING BEFORE WE SPEAK: A PATIENT-CENTERED APPROACH TO DEVELOPING RESOURCES FOR PEDIATRIC BRAIN TUMOR SURVIVORS AND THEIR FAMILIES

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii440-iii440
Author(s):  
Kathy Riley
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Brain Tumor ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Pediatric Brain Tumor ◽  
The United States ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Pediatric Brain

Abstract In the United States, more than 28,000 children and teenagers live with the diagnosis of a primary brain tumor (Porter, McCarthy, Freels, Kim, & Davis, 2010). In 2017, an estimated 4,820 new cases of childhood primary brain and other central nervous system tumors were expected to be diagnosed in children ages 0 – 19 in the United States (Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States, 2017). Survivors suffer from lifelong side effects caused by their illness or by various treatments. Commonly identified late effects of treatment include a decline in intellectual functioning and processing speed, performance IQ deficits, memory deficits, psychological difficulties, deficits in adaptive functioning (daily life skills), and an overall decrease in health-related quality of life (Castellino, Ullrich, Whelen, & Lange, 2014). To address the ongoing challenges these survivors and their families face, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTF) met extensively with working groups comprised of survivors and caregivers to develop the outline for a comprehensive Survivorship Resource Guidebook. In 2019, the PBTF published the guidebook which categorizes survivor and caregiver needs into three primary areas: physical and mental health, quality of life, and working the system. Expert authors included survivors and caregivers themselves in addition to medical and mental health professionals. Key outcomes discovered during the creation and production of this resource highlight how caregivers, survivors and professionals can collaborate to provide needed information and practical help to one segment of the pediatric cancer population who experience profound morbidities as a result of their diagnosis and treatment.

scholarly journals Baby Boomers Who Provide Informal Care for People Living with Dementia in the Community

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (18) ◽  
pp. 9694
Author(s):  
Christina E. Miyawaki ◽  
Erin D. Bouldin ◽  
Christopher A. Taylor ◽  
Lisa C. McGuire
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Baby Boomers ◽  
Baby Boomer ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Behavioral Risk ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Weighted Estimates

One in four Baby Boomers fills the informal caregiver role in the United States. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of Baby Boomers who are informal caregivers for people living with dementia and compare their physical and mental health status to caregivers for persons with conditions other than dementia using 2015–2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data (N = 10,602). We identified caregiving status (assisting a family member/friend with a long-term illness or disability in the past month, managing personal care, and not caring for a child/grandchild) and whether the care recipient’s major health condition was dementia. We calculated weighted estimates and used chi-square tests and log-binomial regression for comparisons of selected characteristics. Among Baby Boomer caregivers, 15.4% were caring for someone with dementia. Dementia caregivers were more likely to be female, caring for a parent/parent-in-law, and providing care longer than caregivers for persons without dementia. After adjusting for sociodemographic and caregiving characteristics, the prevalence of fair/poor health, frequent mental distress, and chronic conditions were similar across types of caregivers. Although no differences in caregiver’s physical and mental health by care recipient’s dementia status were found, we should underscore the importance of maintaining Baby Boomer caregivers’ health and well-being.

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