Management Matters
Decreasing Isolation and Loneliness with Older Adults in a Post Pandemic Era: A Pilot Study Project
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Angela M. Goins
This paper examined findings of a pilot study project conducted in Spring 2020-Summer 2020 called The Adopt a Grandparent program at a university in the southern United States. This study explored if this type of program was mutually beneficial to older adults and college students, decreasing feelings of loneliness (ultimately leading to positive health outcomes) and improving college students' perceptions toward older adults. Can a program be developed that reduces older adults' feelings of loneliness while also providing college students with meaningful interaction that will improve how they view older adults, especially during a global pandemic? Today's older adults face a double-edged sword - the risk of loneliness combined with fewer qualified professionals to support them. Studies show that a high percentage of older adults are lonely, which is linked to a variety of negative physical and emotional outcomes. That loneliness could be reduced through geriatric social workers providing resources and interventions. Fewer social work students consider working with older populations. Through this study, students were paired with older adults to reduce loneliness (older adults) and increase attitudes toward older adults (students) over the phone. Data was gathered using both before and after surveys with older adults (pre-survey -UCLA Loneliness scale (20 question version) post-survey UCLA Loneliness scale (20 question version). Qualitative data via over the phone surveys to older adults about their perceptions and experiences with the college students along with students' data through computer surveys were gathered. Study results showed decreased loneliness in older adults and positive student outcomes.
Invisible Ageing?: Understanding the Experiences of Older Workers in the Swiss Urban Transport Sector View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Rocio Palomeque, Nicky Le Feuvre
This paper contributes to a better understanding of the experiences of older (50+) workers in Switzerland, a country preoccupied by the financial viability of its pension system and by labour shortages in some sectors. However, as a liberal, highly decentralised country with a buoyant economy, the Swiss authorities haven’t yet adopted any far-reaching EWL policies. Although Switzerland boasts one of the highest labour market participation rates of older (50+) workers in Europe, there are relatively few studies of the embodied experiences of ageing in specific occupations. The DAISIE project sought to fill this gap. Drawing on interviews with older (50+) workers in a transport company, we found that, despite actively seeking to hire and retain older workers, the company had no explicit ‘age management’ policies in place. This led to a highly individualised vision of ageing at work with paradoxical implications for older workers. On the one hand, the company recognised the challenges associated with working in a stressful environment with unsocial hours and provided all staff with a wide range of “wellness” initiatives. On the other hand, due to the stringent health and safety checks imposed on drivers, any request to access these measures triggered concerns on the part of HR and line managers about their ability to continue in the job. With only limited opportunities to shift to back office or administrative jobs within the company, the older drivers therefore sought to avoid being identified as a ‘needy older worker’ and to play down any health issues.
Associations and Attitudes Towards Influenza Vaccination among Polish Older Persons in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Idalina Odziemczyk
The persistently low number of people in the high-risk groups – like older persons – who use voluntary vaccinations justifies deepening the reflection on the social aspects of health-related behaviour, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper compares the ways of understanding the vaccination phenomenon and attitudes towards it between a group of older persons who have taken flu vaccination in the last three seasons and those who abstain from it. An ongoing study conducted during the coronavirus pandemic involves retired older residents of Cracow, Poland. They are recruited through Senior Activity Centers and provided with self-filling questionnaires. Analysis of the survey data will use the free association method (Doise, Clemence, Lorenzi-Cioldi, 1993) based on the open-ended question about associations with influenza and vaccinations. Associations profiles of both study groups will be compared with the results obtained using three scales for measuring attitudes towards vaccination (Betsch et al. 2018; Martin, Petrie 2017; Szczerbińska et al. 2017). Preliminary results show discrepancies between groups of older persons. Groups significantly differ in vaccine confidence, complacency, and collective responsibility. Non-vaccinators exhibit more complex and contradictory associations, as opposed to a coherent picture among those who get vaccinated (vaccine as a health protection tool). The literature review revealed limited research concerning the social perception of voluntary flu vaccination among older adults. Therefore it seems reasonable to incorporate their perspective as the key target group of vaccination and promote pro-health initiatives at every stage of life.
