Resilience among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: A photovoice study.

Older adults faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic but also demonstrated great resilience. Investigating these strengths may enhance and inform strategies to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. To gain insight into the resilience processes of older adults during the first year of the pandemic, we conducted a photovoice study with 26 older adults (aged over 60) in the province of Quebec, Canada. Participants met online weekly for three weeks in small groups to discuss their photographs and share their resilience strategies. The thematic analysis revealed three interrelated themes. First, participants distanced themselves from the pandemic by engaging in activities that took their focus away from COVID-19 and that afforded much-needed respite. Second, participants regained their bearings by reorganizing their schedules and establishing new routines that bolstered occupation rather than rumination. Third, participants used the pandemic to self-reflect and revise their priorities, leveraging the pandemic as an opportunity for growth. Together, these themes demonstrate the strengths, coping strategies and resilience of older adults and contrast the stereotypes of older adults as vulnerable and resourceless. These findings have the potential to inform the implementation of strength-based health promotion initiatives to mitigate the harms of the pandemic.

Type 2 diabetes peer support interventions as a complement to primary care settings in high-income nations: A scoping review.

OBJECTIVES: Inadequate social support make way for peer support initiatives to complement the health system delivery of diabetes self-management education programs for type 2 diabetes (T2D). This review synthesizes knowledge about T2D peer support in terms of their various models and impact, endorsement, and contextual information in high-income nations. METHODS: A scoping review was conducted on published and grey literature in four electronic bibliographic databases between January 2007 to December 2021. RESULTS: 76 records were included. Face-to-face self-management programs and telephone-based peer support seem the most promising modalities given the largest scientific coverage on T2D outcomes. Face-to-face self-management programs were the most preferred by ethnic minority groups. Unlike peer supporters, healthcare professionals had mixed views about T2D peer support interventions. Managers of peer support programs perceived cultural competency as a cornerstone for peer support implementation. Care must be taken in recruiting, training and retaining peer supporters for sustainable practice. CONCLUSIONS: Various T2D peer support models lie at the interface between primary care and community-based settings. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Fostering the role of peer support beyond healthcare organizations should be encouraged to engage the hardly reached, and to leverage community support to complement the health system.