The crisis, and associated lockdowns, are also having a profound broader effect on the mental and physical wellbeing of older people, associated with disruptions to social connections and support (Pentaris et al., 2020). In the global north, deaths from COVID have been primarily among older people, and this is gendered, with more older men than women dying from COVID (Mallapaty, 2020), and more older women than men being affected by ‘Long COVID’ 1 (Sudre et al., 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated health inequalities, not least of all among older people (Richardson et al., 2020). The narratives of those doing well – generally better-networked, intentionally positive and engaged in practices which promote their well-being – may offer insights for supporting those who find their lives more challenging, both during a public health crisis and more generally. These findings reaffirm the diversity among older lesbians/gay women as well as highlighting how COVID-19 has acted as a magnifier to their preexisting circumstances. Having access to, and being able to use, online technologies were essential to good mental health during lockdown.
For trans women, formal support from trans/LGBT+ specific networks – online during COVID lockdown – were central to their wellbeing. By contrast, those women who were very unhappy with their circumstances prior to COVID-19 – generally women who lived alone and experienced a mismatch between their actual and desired social network – either remained unhappy or became more unhappy, due to its impact on fragile support systems. Some even reported an improved quality of life, better personal relationships and increased neighborly support. Findings indicate that those women – in couples and singles – who were happy with their living circumstances pre-COVID showed stoicism, adaptability, and determined positivity in response to the pandemic and associated lockdown. It considers the responses of 149 lesbian/gay women (137 cisgender, 12 trans) to questions relating to physical and mental health and wellbeing. This article reports on a subset of findings from a recent UK survey of the impact of COVID-19 on older LGBT+ people in the UK.
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