Untapped Insight: A Longitudinal Qualitative Analysis of Older Adults' Advice During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background and Objectives

Due to a lifetime of experience, older adults are uniquely positioned to contribute advice and insight to others during a historical, societal crisis such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This qualitative study explores the solicited advice older adults offered their peers, family members, and communities throughout the first year of the pandemic.

Research Design and Methods

A sample of 72 older adults aged 70-97 from Minnesota and North Dakota were asked what advice they would provide to others in June 2020 and again in April/May 2021. Participants were asked to provide advice on individual coping and how community members should support older adults during the pandemic, as well as how others should adjust after the pandemic. Responses were coded and developed into overarching themes.

Results

Older adults advised others during the pandemic to foster mental and physical well-being, develop positive life perspectives, and connect to others as strategies to cope through the pandemic. Participants advised that after the pandemic people should remain vigilant, return to normal, and emerge as better people. Advice targeted to meeting the needs of older adults during the pandemic included: adopt selfless attitudes, take intentional actions, and maintain balance. A longitudinal approach revealed that advice remained consistent over time, despite the circumstances caused by COVID-19 changing.

Discussion and Implications

Findings suggest that older adults utilize their life experiences and coping strategies as sources for drawing advice. These findings also suggest that older adults are sources of insight during crises. Future research should investigate additional advice older adults can offer and how willingly communities listen. Applied work should give older adults opportunities to provide far-reaching advice as well as develop interventions aimed at decreasing ageist perceptions of older adults in times of crisis.

Voluntary male mentors' lived experience of social engagement with men in their community

Men volunteering to mentor other men is a growing form of social engagement in Australia. Masculine norms associated with not disclosing emotional distress or discussing loneliness are often set aside by participating in these one-to-one relationships. Mentors have reported improvement in their well-being and a desire to contribute more. In this phenomenological study, which draws on hermeneutic methodology, 12 men who voluntarily met and mentored another adult man for a minimum of 6 months participated in a semi-structured interview. Findings showed non-judgement and deep listening facilitated a rewarding and personally developmental relationship. Most voluntary mentors experienced substantial changes in their masculine views, particularly with the regard to trust and openness with others. This experience has implications for men realising their ability to engage others and for community well-being.

A scoping review of voluntary male mentoring: Themes to connect adult men

In contemporary western cultures, such as Australia, there is increasing reported social disconnection. This disconnection is associated with loneliness and for some suicide, particularly for men. Voluntary male mentoring organisations aim to socially connect and improve men's wellbeing through facilitating men's one-to-one relationships. As is the case with most people, men value someone with whom they may communicate openly and safely, as occurs in voluntary mentoring. However, there is limited research on voluntary male mentoring or the experiences of the participants. This scoping review of the literature from voluntary adult male mentoring thematically synthesises the reported narratives from mentors. A systematic search was undertaken of five academic databases on voluntary adult male mentoring for scholarly articles in English. Additionally, the returned articles had their references reviewed for relevant authoritative reports and publications. After duplicates were removed, there were 471 publications. Sources included publications from humanities, social science, psychology and the health sciences. Once screened for eligibility this number was reduced to 29 publications. A thematic synthesis of the literature found the concepts of intentional relationship, journey and mutual growth were present. The implications of these findings are that men in community settings, informed by the experience of voluntary mentors, may be prepared to engage with other men. Additional research on the lived experience of mentors may offer further insights into facilitating male connection.

Keeping "In Touch": Demographic Patterns of Interpersonal Touch in Later Life

Touch is an important element of human social interaction linked to various dimensions of well-being, but we know little of how it is distributed among older adults. This study considers whether greeting/affectionate touch is a function of characteristics such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Data come from Wave 1 (2005-2006) of the NSHAP study from the United States. Results reveal that women experienced more frequent touch relative to men, net of several features of the interpersonal environment. Mediation analyses revealed that gender differences in associations with touch were partially explained by women's greater participation in formal and informal social activity. No patterns were detected related to race, education, or wealth. This study situates greeting/affectionate touch as a form of corporeal non-verbal interaction that offers a unique lens into patterns of social connection. We close by considering what this form of interaction means in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Age integration in older Europeans' non-kin core networks: Does formal social participation play a role?

Age segregation-the widespread separation of people by age-is deemed by many gerontologists a major problem in contemporary societies. Contributing to this dialog, the current exploratory article examines the presence of non-kin members in European seniors' close personal networks. Specifically, we document network connections to people outside of their 10-year birth cohort, both younger ("downward" age integration) and older ("upward" age integration). We consider whether different aspects of social participation-breadth and intensity of activity, and specific types of participation-are associated with age integration and we pay particular attention to variation across four regions of the continent. Analyses use Wave 6 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (N = 34,282) which contains an updated social networks module. Results of descriptive analyses and logistic regression models demonstrate three key findings. First, both forms of age integration are rare-fewer than 10% of older Europeans have non-kin networks that extend beyond their own cohorts. Nevertheless, both forms of age integration tend to be higher in northern and central Europe than in the south and east. Second, two dimensions of formal social activity involvement were associated with age integration, namely activity breadth and intensity. Third, though there was some evidence that particular formal activities were linked to age integration, this pattern was not consistent across the whole of Europe. Overall, findings point to the significance of cultural and organizational variation across Europe as well as to important and increasingly relevant social cleavages in the later segments of adulthood.