Analysis of the topics about which older adults contacted the older adult helpline during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic
Ivana Bražinová, Kateřina Bohatá, Oldřich Chytil
The research aimed to identify the topics about which older adults contacted an older adult helpline, to analyse the needs of callers in terms of the content of social support, and to develop a typology of interventions that telephone crisis assistance workers provided during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used a qualitative content analysis by Schreier (2012). We analysed records of a selected social service, specifically the records of telephone crisis assistance for older adults (N=500) and expert interviews (N=6) with workers of a selected older adult helpline. The most frequent topic of the telephone crisis assistance for older adults during the pandemic was emotional and health issues related to the problem of coping with the life situation and loneliness. The most common content of social support was emotional support, and the most common intervention provided was emotional ventilation and supportive conversation.
Keywords
Telephone crisis assistance, COVID-19 pandemic, content of social support, intervention provided by telephone crisis assistance staff, older adult helpline.
