The impact of a videoconferencing‐ımplemented program on older adults' psychosocial health in the COVID‐19 pandemic: an experimental study

Abstract

BackgroundSocial distancing and ‘stay‐at‐home’ orders are essential to contain the coronavirus outbreak; however, it has affected older adults very negatively psychosocially. The present study explored the impact of a videoconferencing‐implemented program on older adults' psychosocial health during the COVID‐19 pandemic.MethodsWe carried out this experimental research with pretest‐posttest and control groups between November 02 to December 26, 2020 on individuals aged 60 years and over who were enrolled at Fethiye Refreshment University (60+ FRU). While the intervention group consisted of 40 people, we recruited 52 participants in the control group. Unlike the control group, the intervention group participated in a structured videoconferencing program held there days a week for 8 weeks. We collected the data using the Fear of COVID‐19 Scale (FCV‐19S), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPS), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS‐21), and the Loneliness Scale for Elderly (LSE). The data were then analysed on the SPSS 22.0 program.ResultsThe participants had a mean age of 66.13 ± 5.13 years; 65.2% were females, 58.7% were married, 55.4% held a university degree and 93.5% had a regular income. Following the intervention, we found the experimental group to have significantly a lower posttest FCV‐19S score (p < 0.05) and a higher posttest MSPS score than the control group (p < 0.05). Besides, the experimental group had significantly lower posttest scores on the DASS‐21 and the anxiety and stress subscales than the control group (p < 0.05). Moreover, the posttest score of the experiential group on the emotional loneliness subscale (LSE) was found to be significantly lower than that of the control group (p < 0.05); nevertheless, we could not conclude significant differences between the groups’ pretest and posttest LSE scores and their scores on the other LSE subscales (p > 0.05).ConclusionOverall, the videoconferencing program was found to be efficient in providing older adults with psychosocial support amid social isolation.