This book examines the impact of the pandemic on the older population and how gerontological social workers can effectively intervene to ensure a more equitable approach to service delivery. It details the various ways COVID-19 has touched the lives of older adults and their caregivers across diverse countries including Italy, China, Nigeria, and the United States. Readers of this book can expect comprehensive attention to pandemic issues in an international gerontological social work context.
This edited collection will greatly interest students, academics and researchers in the humanities and social sciences with an interest in the sociology of aging and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Gerontological Social Work.
Introducing COVID-19 and Older Adults
Robin P. Bonifas
1. Age-Based Healthcare Stereotype Threat during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Molly Maxfield, Allie Peckham, M. Aaron Guest and Keenan A. Pituch
2. Older Adults’ Risk Perception during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Lombardy Region of Italy: A Cross-sectional Survey
Erika Guastafierro, Claudia Toppo, Francesca G. Magnani, Rosa Romano, Carla Facchini, Rino Campioni, Ersilia Brambilla and Matilde Leonardi
3. Associations between Volunteering and Mental Health during COVID-19 among Chinese Older Adults
Wai Chan, Cheryl Hiu Kwan Chui, Johnson Chun Sing Cheung, Terry Yat Sang Lum and Shiyu Lu
4. Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Economic Activities and Well-being of Older Adults in South-eastern Nigeria: Lessons for Gerontological Social Workers
Patricia Uju Agbawodikeizu, Chigozie Donatus Ezulike, Prince Chiagozie Ekoh, Elizabeth Onyedikachi George, Uzoma Odera Okoye and Ikechukwu Nnebe
5. Digital and Physical Social Exclusion of Older People in Rural Nigeria in the Time of COVID-19
Prince Chiagozie Ekoh, Elizabeth Onyedikachi George and Chigozie Donatus Ezulike
6. Digital Inclusion of Older Adults during COVID-19: Lessons from a Case Study of Older Adults Technology Services (OATS)
Joyce Weil, Thomas Kamber, Alexander Glazebrook, Marisa Giorgi and Kimberly Ziegler
7. Concerns of Family Caregivers during COVID-19: The Concerns of Caregivers and the Surprising Silver Linings
Elizabeth Lightfoot, Rajean Moone, Kamal Suleiman, Jacob Otis, Heejung Yun, Courtney Kutzler and Kenneth Turck
8. Is It “Aging” or Immunosenescence? The COVID-19 Biopsychosocial Risk Factors Aggravating Immunosenescence as Another Risk Factor of the Morbus. A Developmental-clinical Social Work Perspective
Robert K. Chigangaidze and Patience Chinyenze
Biography
Robin P. Bonifas is Professor and Chair of the Social Work Department at Indiana State University, Terre Haute, USA. She has over 15 years’ experience working with older adults in long-term care and inpatient psychiatric settings. She is John A. Hartford Faculty Scholar and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work.
