Welcome to the 22nd WCP Congress Program Scheduling

OBJECTIVES: COVID-19 poses biopsychosocial consequences for older adults and families worldwide. The pandemic disproportionately affects populations such as older age people, persons with physical, cognitive, and psychiatric comorbidities, and low resources. We address pandemic impacts from different but complementary perspectives: 1) a literature review on the effectiveness of telemedicine services for people living with dementia and caregivers; 2) interviews of Spanish-speaking older adults with comorbid depression and loneliness; and 3) interviews of directors of programs serving older adults with significant functional and psychological distress. METHODS: To tap into the experiences of the pandemic on older adults and the programs that served them, we based our work on 1) a rapid review of international literature (over 669 records) using conventional PRISM protocols; 2) narrative interviews using the Cultural Formulation Interview process with 15 Spanish-speakers in New York and Los Angeles, USA; 3) thematic analysis of 27 key informant interviews regarding the pandemic impacts on directors, staff, and programs serving older adults and people with significant disabilities. RESULTS: The review identified 9 publications across 6 countries elucidating domains affecting effective use of telemedicine. The narrative analysis unveiled pandemic-related depression, chronic stressors, and loneliness in the face of various coping strategies. Directors of aging-related programs discussed disruptions to service delivery, food supply chains, workers, and budgets. CONCLUSION: The pandemic exerts serious impacts on older adults’ physical, psychiatric and social wellbeing not yet reflected in the empirical literature on disasters.