COVID-19-related social support service closures and mental well-being in older adults and those affected by dementia: a UK longitudinal survey

• Published in: BMJ open Vol. 11; no. 1; p. e045889
• Main Authors: Giebel, Clarissa, Pulford, Daniel, Cooper, Claudia, Lord, Kathryn, Shenton, Justine, Cannon, Jacqueline, Shaw, Lisa, Tetlow, Hilary, Limbert, Stan, Callaghan, Steve, Whittington, Rosie, Rogers, Carol, Komuravelli, Aravind, Rajagopal, Manoj, Eley, Ruth, Downs, Murna, Reilly, Siobhan, Ward, Kym, Gaughan, Anna, Butchard, Sarah, Beresford, Jules, Watkins, Caroline, Bennett, Kate, Gabbay, Mark
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England British Medical Journal Publishing Group 17.01.2021; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Publishing Group
• Series: Original research
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anxiety - epidemiology; Anxiety disorders; Caregivers - psychology; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 - psychology; Dementia; Dementia - psychology; Depression - epidemiology; Disease transmission; Female; Health Facility Closure; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Mental health care; Middle Aged; old age psychiatry; Older people; Pandemics; Public Health; Quality of life; Questionnaires; Social distancing; Social Support; Social Work; Support groups; United Kingdom - epidemiology; Young Adult; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK; COVID-19; dementia; mental health; old age psychiatry
• ISSN: 2044-6055; 2044-6055
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045889

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on delivery of social support services. This might be expected to particularly affect older adults and people living with dementia (PLWD), and to reduce their well-being.AimsTo explore how social support service use by older adults, carers and PLWD, and their mental well-being changed over the first 3 months since the pandemic outbreak.MethodsUnpaid dementia carers, PLWD and older adults took part in a longitudinal online or telephone survey collected between April and May 2020, and at two subsequent timepoints 6 and 12 weeks after baseline. Participants were asked about their social support service usage in a typical week prior to the pandemic (at baseline), and in the past week at each of the three timepoints. They also completed measures of levels of depression, anxiety and mental well-being.Results377 participants had complete data at all three timepoints. Social support service usage dropped shortly after lockdown measures were imposed at timepoint 1 (T1), to then increase again by T3. The access to paid care was least affected by COVID-19. Cases of anxiety dropped significantly across the study period, while cases of depression rose. Well-being increased significantly for older adults and PLWD from T1 to T3.ConclusionsAccess to social support services has been significantly affected by the pandemic, which is starting to recover slowly. With mental well-being differently affected across groups, support needs to be put in place to maintain better well-being across those vulnerable groups during the ongoing pandemic.