METHODS: In April-May 2020, 41 adults aged 70-85 participated in unstructured phone interviews. The objective was to investigate older adults\' perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly their understanding of the disease and the conditions that influenced their adherence to health recommendations. HBM was used as an analytical framework to guide the analysis of the interviews.
RESULTS: Despite perceiving COVID-19 as a severe threat to health and society, participants did not let fear dominate their responses. Instead, they demonstrated remarkable resilience and a proactive approach. For some, the perceived susceptibility to the disease was the primary motivator for adherence to the Swedish national recommendations. Notably, trust in the authorities and family members\' requests significantly bolstered adherence. Moreover, adherence was found to contribute to feelings of safety. Conversely, potential barriers to adhering to recommendations included missing loved ones and frustration with sometimes ambiguous information from authorities.
CONCLUSIONS: The results from this study indicate that older adults are willing to adhere to voluntary restrictions during a global pandemic. Relatives of older people are a resource for communicating information regarding safety and health messages, a message that is preferably thorough and consistent. Further, much can be gained if loneliness during isolation can be mitigated since missing loved ones appears to be a potential barrier to adherence.
方法:2020年4月至5月,41名70-85岁的成年人参加了非结构化电话访谈。目的是调查老年人对COVID-19大流行的看法,特别是他们对疾病的理解和影响他们坚持健康建议的条件。HBM被用作分析框架来指导访谈的分析。
结果:尽管认为COVID-19对健康和社会构成严重威胁,参与者没有让恐惧主导他们的反应。相反,他们表现出非凡的韧性和积极主动的态度。对一些人来说,认为对该疾病的易感性是坚持瑞典国家建议的主要动机.值得注意的是,对当局和家庭成员的信任要求大大加强了依从性。此外,发现坚持有助于安全感。相反,坚持建议的潜在障碍包括缺少亲人和对当局有时含糊不清的信息感到沮丧。
结论:这项研究的结果表明,在全球大流行期间,老年人愿意遵守自愿限制。老年人的亲属是传达有关安全和健康信息的资源,最好是彻底和一致的信息。Further,如果可以减轻隔离期间的孤独感,可以获得很多好处,因为失去亲人似乎是坚持的潜在障碍。