WhatsApp and communication in a pandemic state: Family members and institutionalized elderly: Case Study in the County of Idanha-a-Nova (Portugal)

ABSTRACT

The context of the pandemic we experienced, caused by COVID-19, implied the adoption of several measures, in an attempt to limit its dissemination. Among which, there is social isolation and the prohibition of visits to institutionalized elderly people. These measures favor the worsening or onset of mental illnesses in the elderly, including depression. As a way to reduce these consequences, video calls began to be made in the institutions so that users could see and talk to their family/friends. For the realization of video calls, the informal caregivers began to request the WhatsApp application, because it is currently the most used application in this context. This is how we get to the question of this study Is the digital application WhatsApp adapted for the institutionalized elderly population? This study then aims to to know the opinion of the elderly about WhatsApp;identify the advantages, obstacles, limitations pointed out by them about this application;reduce the infoexclusion among the elderly population;stimulate the creation/maintenance of digital social networks;decrease consequences of the isolation caused by COVID-19. The methodology adopted for this study was qualitative, being an Exploratory Case Study, based on descriptive logic. A non-probabilistic convenience sample was selected, composed of 5 subjects institutionalized in an institution of Idanha-a-Nova. For data collection, a characterization questionnaire was applied, and the participant was observed in the interaction with WhatsApp, during which the field notes and observation grid were registered and finally the Focus Group technique was used. It was concluded that the application and the equipment itself are not adapted to the institutionalized elderly belonging to this study, mainly due to the difficulty in accessing effectively, efficiently and satisfactorily. © 2021 AISTI.