Beliefs of Quebec Adults Aged 70 and Older regarding Compliance to Confinement during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Descriptive Qualitative Study
Introduction: People aged 70 and above living in the community are particularly at risk of severe COVID-19 complications but are not more disciplined in terms of compliance with confinement. Objectives: 1) Identify the beliefs of these people regarding adherence to confinement guidelines and 2) describe the actions taken by the elders to respect the confinement measures. Methods: A descriptive qualitative method was used following the Reasoned Action Approach to identify the most important salient beliefs about conformity to confinement and the actions taken by the older adults to comply with it. The data were collected during summer 2020 using telephone interviews with seniors living at home or in private residence for seniors. Results: The participants (N = 41) aged 70-97 came from five areas of the province of Quebec. Social isolation from their relatives were reported as the most important impact during COVID-19 confinement. The family is the most influential group who approved compliance with confinement. Maintaining the contact with their relatives and receiving support from them constitute facilitating conditions, whereas the medical appointments appear as the only perceived barrier to confinement. For actions taken to adopt confinement, four themes emerged: leaving home as little as possible, keeping busy alone, refraining from receiving or visiting relatives and practicing physical distancing. Discussion and conclusion: Various strategies such as individualized interventions or access to virtual meetings with relatives are recommended.