Emotional manifestations and perceived social support in elderly adults in the face of the impact of COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: the confrontation with the pandemic has caused changes in the lifestyles of all people, to comply with the strict social isolation, and the elderly, a vulnerable group before covid-19, have had to modify their routines for a better adaptation to the current situation. Objective: to determine the emotional manifestations and the social support perceived in elderly people facing the covid-19 pandemic, who belong to the clinic 24, Puerto Esperanza, Viñales municipality in the year 2021. Methods: a descriptive study was carried out, based on the non-experimental and transversal method, working with a non-probabilistic sample of 30 elderly people, between 60 and 75 years old. Theoretical and empirical methods were used as the applied techniques: semi-structured interview, IDARE, MOS Social Support Questionnaire and Yesavage Geriatric Depression Test and descriptive statistics. Results: there was a predominance of female sex, married marital status, no work relationship and the family structure were characterized by the presence of small and bigeneracionales family nuclei. Regarding the emotional level, there was a predominance of medium levels of anxiety as a state (86 %) and as a trait (76 %) and with respect to depression there was a prevalence of light levels (80 %). The degree of perceived social support that predominated was high (80 %), with the family standing out as the main source of support (emotional, affective and material) for this group. Conclusions: the population under study showed medium levels of anxiety and depression and an adequate perception of social support in the face of the impact of COVID-19, only showing high levels of anxiety and depression in 20 % of the population that expressed a low level of social support.