Older adults’ perspectives towards optimizing lifestyle behaviors and strategies to support healthy brain ageing during COVID-19 restrictions

Joyce Siette, Laura Dodds, Cristy Brooks, K. Deckers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Introduction: It is unknown how the impact of COVID-19 restrictions has affected brain healthy behaviors that contribute to dementia risk reduction in older adults. Our aim was to explore perspectives of older adults on lifestyle behaviors that support positive brain health and dementia risk reduction during and following COVID-19 restrictions. Methods: Community-dwelling older Australians (N = 159) during June to October 2021 (the second wave of COVID-19 restrictions) who had taken part in a pre-post dementia risk reduction intervention program were invited to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on their lifestyle behaviors. Semi-structured interviews explored individual’s adaptability to pandemic restrictions, intended behavior changes following restrictions easing, and feedback on the effectiveness of ongoing intervention programs for sustaining brain health. Thematic data analysis was performed using a deductive approach. Results: Participants had an average age of 73.1 years (SD = 5.6; range: 65–90), majority were female (74.7%), lived in a major city (82.2%) and mean 9.5 years (SD = 1.7) of education. Older adults’ views about lifestyle prevention strategies during the pandemic were both positive (e.g., more spare time and adaptive leisure activities) and negative (e.g., social isolation, lack of motivation, adverse emotions). Participants highlighted a continuous conscious effort to adapt certain brain healthy behaviors despite the persistence of adverse impacts of COVID-19 restrictions. Participants also expressed the intention and desire to revert to their previous lifestyle before the COVID-19 pandemic or a sense of the ‘new normal’. Conclusion: This formative research will inform future interventions targeting dementia risk reduction to consider the immediate and lasting effects of COVID-19 restrictions on older adult’s lifestyle behavior.
Original languageEnglish
Article number1205001
Number of pages9
JournalFrontiers in Public Health
Volume11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2023 Siette, Dodds, Brooks and Deckers. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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