ABSTRACT

This study was to analyze the older adults’ emotional state during the COVID-19 pandemic. The state was explored through both group and individual interview. All the contents of the interview for nine community-dwelling older adults were analyzed by the phenomenological approach. From analyzing the emotional state, nine meaning units and three sub-themes were emerged, and those were clustered into one theme. The theme was named as ‘mood swings,’ while the three sub-themes as ‘loneliness catalyzed by social isolation,’ ‘anxiety triggered by fear,’ and ‘depression induced by loneliness and anxiety.’ This study was also to analyze the older adults’ feedback on the interview. That is, how meaningful they felt from the interview was explored. From analyzing the feedback, thirty meaning units and ten sub-themes were emerged, and those were clustered into one theme. The theme was named as ‘changes made from counseling after COVID-19 pandemic,’ while the ten sub-themes were named as ‘being pessimistic and bearing high levels of stress in daily life’ ‘absence of problem-solving capability and difficulty in evaluating emotional status’ and so on. This study confirmed that the emotional state experienced during the pandemic was severely negative, and the significance of the study was that such a negative emotional state could be resolved through counseling.