Older Adults’ Behavioral Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

COVID-19’s effects go beyond physical health, including impacts to behavioral health such as documented increases in loneliness, depression, anxiety, and alcohol misuse. Research on other disaster and mass trauma events suggests that behavioral health impacts may persist for many years after the initial onset of the event and could be compounded with other disasters. These impacts have not, and will not, be distributed evenly across the population. Of note, evidence from early in the pandemic suggests that older adults’ (adults aged 65 and older) behavioral health may not be as adversely affected as expected, given past research on age and disasters.

Citation

Parks, V., Hindmarch, G., Patel, S.S. and Clark-Ginsberg, A. (2023), "Older Adults’ Behavioral Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic", Horney, J.A. (Ed.) COVID-19, Frontline Responders and Mental Health: A Playbook for Delivering Resilient Public Health Systems Post-Pandemic, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 9-21. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-115-020231002