Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Nov 22, 2020
Date Accepted: Dec 29, 2020
Date Submitted to PubMed: Jan 13, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Can online activities substitute in-person activities for older persons during Covid-19?
ABSTRACT
Background:
Background:
Group activities are a strategy to address social isolation and loneliness among older adults. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic most of these activities had to be cancelled and online activities have been offered as an alternative by some organizations. Yet, the effectiveness of online group activities for older adults has scarcely been researched.
Objective:
We aimed to understand the extent to which online activities for older adults provide an adequate substitute for in-person activities.
Methods:
In this telephone survey, we interviewed 105 older adults in Israel who were offered the opportunity to participate in online activities after routine activities closed due to Covid-19. We inquired about background characteristics, satisfaction with activities, and reasons for participation or nonparticipation in the activities.
Results:
Those who participated in the online activities tended to be highly satisfied with at least some of them. They rated enjoyment from the content of the activity as the most important motivator, followed by maintaining a routine, enjoying the activity, and the presence of others. Over 50% wished to continue with the exercise program after the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, and 40% with online lectures. The most common reasons cited by those who did not participate were not being aware of the online program (43%), lack of interest in the content (32%), and technical issues (23%), such as not owning or being able to fully utilize a computer. Both participants and nonparticipants were interested in a wide range of topics, with many being very particular about the topics they wished to access, and about half expressing willingness to pay for access.
Conclusions:
Findings suggest a need for online activities for countering boredom and a sense of isolation. The main challenges in substituting in-person services are: promoting social relationships, which are currently not incorporated into most online programs, accommodating a wider range of topics, and making current programs accessible to the population who needs them. Such approaches are needed to help homebound older persons during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.