New Research Finds Elders Living In Fear Of COVID-19

Tauranga social gerontologist Carole Gordon says New Zealand needs to restore social connectedness for our Elders who are anxiously limiting their lives because they fear COVID-19.

All 26 people who have died in New Zealand from COVID-19 were older people.

Carole undertook research into the impact of COVID-19 on Elders from October to November 2020, finding that while Elders felt safe and well-informed during the 2020 lockdowns, they are still afraid to go out, are limiting their lives, and are experiencing high levels of social disconnectedness and hardship.

“Elders did so well managing that long period of social isolation and now there is a challenge to reconnect,” she says.

Carole’s report, Safe? The Impact of COVID-19 on Elders, calls for urgent investment in restoring Elder social connectedness and is expected to be presented to the COVID-19 Group in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The report also makes local recommendations for achieving Elder social connection and wellbeing to the Bay of Plenty District Health Board, Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation and Tauranga City Council, which collaborated on the research.

About 30,000 people over 65 live in Tauranga City – about 20 percent of the population compared to 15 per cent nationwide - with projections this will increase by nine percent in the next 10 years.

Tauranga people aged between 70 and 98 years were interviewed by Carole, including Māori and Pasifika participants.

Two of those interviewed referred to talking to their mailbox during their COVID-19 isolation and others spoke of harrowing experiences, including a woman separated from her disabled adult daughter in a rest home who became extremely ill during their separation. Many have given up social activities outside their home since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Elders were locked up for eight weeks [socially isolating a week earlier than the general population] and did it proudly as a duty. Nobody has thanked them. It’s like ‘they are invisible anyway so we didn’t notice’” says Carole.

She says she was shocked by the stories of the research participants.

“Their stories show that the system failed them. People were designing and learning new protocols and systems, but there is more learning to do. The fragility of older people today illustrates that.”

Carole, who received a New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to seniors, says the current objectives of the COVID-19 Group in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet overlook investment to restore Elder social care and connectedness, or to strengthen community social infrastructure in high ageing regions.

“When I look at the global situation of Elders, and the deliberate planning for people living longer lives, I see policies that are stronger and more thoughtful to support an ageing population than we have in New Zealand, and certainly here in the Western Bay of Plenty. There is an understanding and compassion which we have lost.”

Carole says she is pleased, however, that the Government has committed to social equity and inclusion in its recently adopted Better Later Life He Oranga Kaumātua Strategy 2019-2030, providing a strong basis for enhancing the wellbeing place of Elders in policy frameworks and planning for longevity in liveable communities.

Carole says her research also reveals that human rights abuses occurred during lockdown.

“People living in their own home had their gates locked in retirement villages. In some cases their GP or healthcare provider couldn’t get in to see them. Someone forgot these were people’s homes.”

The report includes several recommendations for Government, including urgent investment in Elder social connectedness through a social impact recovery agenda, a COVID-19 response and recovery with a dedicated focus on Elder isolation and frailty risk to limit demand on health services and residential care, and that DHBs adopt a strategy for reducing Elder pandemic harm.

“The solutions to social disconnectedness, and therefore major health problems, are to strengthen communities; to strengthen the ways people can connect to each other in liveable communities,” says Carole.

“Our COVID-19 response must give voice and place to the diversity of Elders to build a more resilient, equitable, inclusive and sustainable future.”

Recommendations for Western Bay of Plenty authorities include a project to develop an Elder wellbeing centre for community-based services, and that SmartGrowth and the Tauranga City Council commit to COVID-19 recovery policies that include the wellbeing of ageing and growing communities.

CEO of the Western Bay of Plenty PHO, Lindsey Webber, says the PHO welcomes the opportunity to share insights from this research internally and across its network of general practices.

“In a time of significant health system reform, the importance of active listening, authentic co-design approaches to health service configuration, and a greater understanding of the real issues for Elders will be hugely valuable.”

General Manager of Community Services at Tauranga City Council, Gareth Wallis, says the research provides a unique snapshot into the effects of COVID-19 on Elders in Tauranga.

“The insights and learning from this piece of work provide us with a platform to ensure that we continue to strive towards reaching our Age Friendly Cities’ strategic goals. This enables us to progress with confidence the development of a new action plan, which is being supported by the Office for Seniors.”

Executive Director of Allied Health at the Bay of Plenty District Health Board, Dr Sarah Mitchell, says the stories that have come out from this piece of work are powerful and lessons need to be learned.

“It is really important to recognise the value that Elders have in the community. This work clearly aligns to the work we are undertaking in the DHB around supporting people to age well in our communities.”

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