Gerontological social workers’ views on the multiplied and deepened social problems of their clients during the covid-19 pandemic in Finland

Abstract

Since the COVID-19 virus is a serious threat to old people, various measures were employed for their protection, leaving serious consequences in their lives. Due to the restrictions, closed services and the fear of the virus, many elderly people have been in isolation for relatively long periods. As global crises tend to do, COVID-19 worsened the situations of the most vulnerable people. In our study, we shed light on a specific group of old people: the clients of gerontological social work. We wanted to find out how the lives of elderly clients were affected by the pandemic and its governance in Finland according to gerontological social workers. We conducted two focus group interviews with gerontological social workers in two municipalities in Finland (N=8). Our results show that the social problems of gerontological social work clients deepened and multiplied during COVID-19. The research revealed a vicious cycle, where the changes in the service system left the clients without the help they needed and caused digital divide and -along with the requirements of staying at home- social isolation. These gave rise to deepened mental health problems and problems in life-management. These in turn gave rise to immediate consequences such as inclusion problems and increased abuse and negative forthcoming consequences, as the gerontological social workers anticipated that more problems caused by the long isolation periods of their clients will be seen.