"The Psychological and Social Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Elderly in the Community"

Introduction: Societies are aging.In Portugal, the number of elderly people has been rising, which has led to an increase in institutionalization.The Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it a range of challenges that are considered significant at a global level, affecting all aspects of daily life.Compared to other groups in society, older people face increased health risks and a sense of social isolation.Specifically, in Portugal, as in other countries, the elderly have been one of the central themes in both social and health policies.Objective: This study puts the onus on the elderly in the community, with the aim of knowing the demographic profiles and gauging the psychological and social impacts resulting from the pandemic experienced, providing insights into how these factors contribute to well-being.Method: We opted for a mixed methodology, selecting 16 elderly people from the community, who were given different assessment instruments (GDS, UCLA, Spirituality Scale and Hope State Scale), as well as semi-structured interviews.This made it possible to collect sociodemographic information and thus ensure a more varied wealth of information.Results: The findings show that it affected activities of daily living and social relationships, leading to feelings of fear, worry and lack of affection.Faced with adversity, the elderly resorted to spirituality and adaptation as their preferred coping strategies, contributing to the creation of a community project to promote health literacy and concomitantly reduce the loneliness they felt.Emphasizing the importance of quality of life for this vulnerable group.