Occupational deprivation, mental health and occupational engagement of aged in physical distancing, during the covid-19 pandemic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15448/2357-9641.2025.1.47113Keywords:
Physical Distancing, Pandemic by Covid-19, Mental health, Occupational performance, AgedAbstract
Aims: Objective: To describe the implications of social distancing on the mental health of elderly people and their occupational performance and verify situations of occupational deprivation and occupational engagement during social distancing, in the covid-19 pandemic. Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, with elderly people aged 60 and over, of both sexes and belonging to social groups. An interview was carried out via telephone call, using a questionnaire prepared for this research. The Patient Health Questionnaire-4 instrument was also used to screen depressive and anxiety symptoms. Results: The sample included 55 participants, 97.27% reported suffering occupational deprivation, 32.7% reported changes in occupational performance and 32.7% managed to engage in new occupations. 10.9% showed indicators of depressive symptoms, 16.4% for anxiety symptoms and 5.4% for both conditions. The variable depression was associated with the variables social distancing and changes in occupational performance. Anxiety, on the other hand, showed a significant association with the variable changes in occupational performance. Elderly people who engaged in new occupations had lower rates of symptoms related to mental health (27.7%). Conclusions: In this study, the occurrence of situations of occupational deprivation was observed and that few participants were able to engage in new occupations during the period. This denotes the difficulty for individuals in discovering new occupations to engage in. New occupational engagements can bring health benefits and minimize mental illness and occupational
therapists can assist in this process, during situations of occupational deprivation.
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