Social support of the older persons during the second waves of COVID-19 pandemic in semi-rural Thailand
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Abstract
Objectives: COVID-19 is an emerging infectious disease; infected older persons are more likely to depart than other ages. Also, people with a lack of social support can get the infection easily. This study aimed to examine the social support needs of older persons and compare the differences in the social support needs by factors of age, sex, occupation, chronic disease, marital status, and family economic status.
Study design: Descriptive study design.
Methods: Data were collected from 267 older persons who lived in semi-rural Thailand during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic by a self-administered questionnaire or face-to-face interviews. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, an independent sample t-test, and one-way ANOVA.
Results: All participants required social support, while 56.2% needed a high level. The top three aspects needed include distributing the old-age allowance in the community (86.9%), supporting disease prevention equipment (83.1%), and providing a place to coordinate and a person who could provide information about COVID-19 thoroughly in the community (80.1%). Older persons with underlying medical conditions needed significantly higher social support than those without diseases (p < .001. Statistically insignificantly differences in social support needs (p = .86) are found by sex (p = .83), occupation (p = .52), marital status (p = .56), and family economic status (p = .94).
Conclusions: The overall social support needs of the participants were at a high level. Increasing old-age allowance and supporting protective materials, coordinating sources, and providing information about COVID-19 thoroughly in the community, and the tailed care delivery for those underlying medical conditions are recommended.
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