Coping Strategies in Old Age: Experiences of Lonely Women in the COVID-19 Process

Within the scope of the project, revealing the COVID-19 experiences of women aged 65 and over living alone in Gaziantep (Syrian), Muğla (British-local) and Zonguldak (local) cities, which occur in different ways due to different social processes, determining their needs and expectations, and helping elderly women living alone It is aimed to determine policy recommendations at central and local level for It was determined that there were common and differentiating experiences among the participants. In common experiences, it was determined that the participants internalized a structural fear, and this fear increased during the COVID-19 process. Again, as a result of the isolation applied to people over 65+, it was observed that loneliness became even more lonely and made women even more vulnerable. Differentiating experiences resulted from variables such as class, ethnicity, immigration, citizenship and location. Syrian women are family dependent in terms of support mechanism. As their children became unemployed as a result of the pandemic, they became more dependent on aid. British women have experienced socio-cultural problems. Family ties are weak, they direct their wishes and demands to institutions. In the Muğla area, there is a group (born and raised in Muğla) whose social interaction is limited to their family and surroundings, who participate less in cultural activities, and therefore feel less social isolation, and another group (those who settled in Muğla later) who have problems due to the restriction of cultural activities. Women from Zonguldak enjoy a wide social circle and support. Their "spatial fixity" has ensured that family, kinship and friendship relations are strong. The decrease in this intense social interaction after COVID-19 is the most destructive part of the pandemic process in Zonguldak. Individuals from different groups, such as class, age, gender, health status, disability, immigration location, location, ethnicity, have different experiences during the pandemic process. In solving the problems caused by the pandemic, intersectional experiences should be considered. Establishing a "General Directorate of Loneliness" affiliated to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services to internalize fear as a symbolic form of violence and reduce women's vulnerabilities in the face of loneliness, and to use "social welfare services" rather than "social support" to increase the well-being of elderly and lonely women. It is necessary to develop an understanding based on understanding, encourage long-term livelihoods, determine their needs regularly by carrying out longitudinal field studies, and social welfare for elderly and lonely women.