Open AccessPresidential Symposium: Social Engagement, Isolation, and Loss During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Author(s) -
Toni C. Antonucci,
Debra Umberson,
Deborah Carr
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
innovation in aging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2399-5300
DOI - 10.1093/geroni/igab046.643
Subject(s) - loneliness , pandemic , social isolation , isolation (microbiology) , globe , theme (computing) , covid-19 , presidential system , mental health , social distance , population , gerontology , psychology , sociology , political science , criminology , medicine , social psychology , psychiatry , disease , demography , pathology , neuroscience , politics , computer science , law , infectious disease (medical specialty) , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , operating system
The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed social life across the globe and had a particularly profound impact on older people. In this BSS Presidential Symposium, we address the annual meeting’s theme—Disruption to Transformation: Aging in the “New Normal”—by inviting noted experts to address implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for social engagement and isolation. The speakers address this theme from sociological, psychological, demographic, and public health perspectives with attention to racial disparities and the impact of the pandemic on patterns of isolation and loneliness in the population, methods for conducting research with older populations, patterns of bereavement and loss of family ties, and caregiver mental health. The panel will shed light on these issues through individual presentations and dialogue.