The investigations of the psychological, economic and socail effects of the Covid 19 pandemic on elderly people

Introduction: The group with the highest mortality rate in the COVID-19 pandemic has been those aged 65 and over. Moreover, the implementation of restrictions mainly for older adults has brought multidimensional impacts of the pandemic on their lives. Thus, the present study aimed to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affected older adults socially, psychologically, and financially and which socio-demographic variables led to significant differences in these impacts. Materials and Method: The sample of this cross-sectional study consisted of 405 individuals aged 65 and over, living in the city center and villages of Burdur. The data were using a socio-demographic information form, the Multidimensional COVID-19 Scale, The COVID-19-Related Perceptions and Attitudes Scale. Independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. Then, a Bonferroni test was performed to uncover the source of significant differences in the variables, and a p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Findings: The findings revealed that educational attainment, marital status, place of residence, social security, presence of chronic disease, and regular medication were the socio-demographic variables creating significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in the perceptions and attitudes of older adults regarding the pandemic. Furthermore, statistically significant differences were found in the participants' feelings, thoughts, behavior, and precautions regarding the pandemic by educational attainment, homeownership, social security, and disability status (p ≤ 0.05) Conclusion and Recommendations: Overall, it is recommended to design structured psycho-social support programs to minimize the adverse impacts of the pandemic on older adults, to enhance the knowledge and skills of professionals working in the field of mental health through in-service training, and to integrate gerontechnology-supported care and health services into available policies.