MICRA members announce book publication: ‘COVID-19, Inequality and Older People: Everyday life during the pandemic’

COVID-19, Inequality and Older People, Everyday life during the pandemic poster

MICRA members (Camilla Lewis, Chris Phillipson, Sophie Yarker and Luciana Lang) are pleased to announce the publication of a book: ‘COVID-19, Inequality and Older People: Everyday life during the pandemic’, in June 2023 with Policy Press.

The book provides a detailed account of the impact of COVID-19 on the everyday life and relationships of older people, together with the organisations working on their behalf. It draws on novel qualitative longitudinal research which recorded the experiences of a diverse group of people aged 50 and over, in a variety of situations and locations across Greater Manchester, England. The women and men were interviewed over three ‘lockdowns’, covering a twelve-month period of the pandemic. 

The interviews provide detailed accounts of the ways in which older people and community groups experienced the impact of COVID-19 over different points in time, in the context of their family and friends, homes, neighbourhoods, and wider social networks.

As well as providing a detailed account of the ways that people organised their everyday lives and supported others in their households and neighbourhoods, the analysis also shows how the pandemic put a ‘spotlight’ on the precarity and unmet needs of some groups of older adults, such as those living alone, or from ethnic minority backgrounds. 

Insights from these observations must form the starting point for how we understand the changing needs of older groups in their communities, as well as develop effective policies for supporting people during a period of crisis such as that represented by COVID-19. The book provides an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the unequal impact of COVID-19 across the older population.

To pre-order the book, please follow: The Bristol University Press. News about a book launch will be shared in the new year.

Drawing on the same study, the team have also published a research article in The Gerontologist, entitled: ‘Precarity and the Pandemic: The Impact of COVID-19 on Single Men Living Alone’. The paper focuses on the daily lives of a group of single men over three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. The findings emphasize the need, given the likelihood of future waves of the pandemic, to target support at those living alone, particularly in relation to the provision of community health services, social infrastructure, and combating digital exclusion.

For further details about the paper, see: Lewis, C., Phillipson, C., Lang, L. and Yarker, S. (2022) Precarity and the pandemic: The impact of COVID-19 on single men living alone. The Gerontologist. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnac129