Abstract
Objectives: Physical distancing precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic may challenge the provision of tangible support many middle age and older adults receive in managing their health. We examined the association between unmet tangible support needs and self-management behaviors and mental health status during the stay-at-home orders in Chicago and New York. Methods: We used data from the COVID-19 & Chronic Conditions study collected between May 1st and May 22nd, 2020. A total of 801 middle age and older adults with ≥1 chronic condition in Chicago and New York City completed the telephone interview. Adequacy of tangible social support was measured using a brief, validated scale that determined whether an individual needed assistance managing his or her health, and if yes, whether this need was met. Participants reported their level of difficulty engaging in self-management behaviors using 2 discrete items; they also self-reported medication adherence using the ASK-12 medication adherence scale. Mental health status was measured using the depression and anxiety PROMIS short-form instruments. Results: Participants’ mean age was 63 years; 30% identified as Black, 26% identified as Latino, and 12% identified unmet support needs. Inadequacy of tangible support was associated with greater difficulty managing one’s health and accessing medications due to COVID-19, as well as poorer medication adherence, increased anxiety and depressive symptoms, and poorer overall well-being (P’s <.05). Conclusions: Perceived unmet support needs during stay-at-home orders were associated with greater difficulty engaging in self-management behaviors and poorer overall well-being. Two brief items quickly identified individuals with unmet support needs.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Primary Care and Community Health |
| Volume | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2021 |
Funding
The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Dr. Bailey reports grants from the NIH during the conduct of the study; grants from Merck, the NIH, and Eli Lilly outside the submitted work; grants and personal fees from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation outside the submitted work; and personal fees from Sanofi, Pfizer, and Luto outside the submitted work. Dr. Wolf reports grants from the NIH during the conduct of the study; grants from Merck, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the NIH, and Eli Lilly outside the submitted work; and personal fees from Sanofi, Pfizer, and Luto outside the submitted work. All other authors report no conflicts of interest. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01NR01544, R01AG030611, R01AG046352, R01DK110172, R01HL126508), with institutional support from UL1TR001422. The funding agency played no role in the study design, collection of data, analysis or interpretation of data. Dr. O’Conor is supported by the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine (P30AG059988) and a training grant from the National Institute on Aging (K01AG070107).
Keywords
- COVID-19
- social support
- tangible assistance
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Community and Home Care