Desigualdades en el apoyo social de personas mayores a partir de la pandemia por COVID-19

Abstract

La pandemia por COVID-19 obstaculizó el contacto social, que provocó unadisponibilidad desigual de apoyo según características socioeconómicas e individuales de laspersonas mayores. El objetivo fue analizar el apoyo social percibido, desde el tamaño de la red yla funcionalidad (afectivo, informacional e instrumental) que brindan estos vínculos, ycompararlo según aspectos sociales, educativos, residenciales y sociodemográficos en laprepandemia del año 2019, y durante la pandemia –hasta el año 2021–, en personas mayoresresidentes de zonas urbanas de la Argentina. Se realizó un estudio cuantitativo, de diseñolongitudinal de tendencia y alcance descriptivo con datos provenientes de la Encuesta de laDeuda Social Argentina (EDSA) de personas de 60 años y más, relevados en 2019 (n = 1357) y2021 (n = 1289). El muestreo fue probabilístico y polietápico sobre la información censal delaño 2010, con una instancia de selección de conglomerados urbanos, y luego por estratificaciónsocioeconómica. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo interanual mediante frecuencias yporcentajes, para el que se utilizó el software IBM SPSS. Los resultados indican que el contexto de pandemia generó cambios en la percepción del apoyo social estructural y funcional, y seevidencian carencias significativas en los grupos socioeconómicos más vulnerables, de mayoredad y en aquellos que vivían solos. Debido a la crisis sanitaria emergen nuevos desafíossociales, por lo que resultan necesarias intervenciones dirigidas a fortalecer las redes de apoyoen los grupos entendidos en este estudio como vulnerables.The world population is in demographic transition towards aging societies. Argentina is one of the most aged countries in the region and is in an advanced stage of aging of its society. Social support is a highly relevant resource at this stage of life, although the likelihood of social networks being reduced or deteriorated increases. The COVID-19 pandemic hindered social contact, causing unequal availability of support depending on the socioeconomic and individual characteristics of older people. The objective was to analyze the perceived social support, from the size of the network and the functionality (affective, informational and instrumental) that these links provide and compare it according to social, educational, residential and sociodemographic aspects in the pre-pandemic (year 2019) and during the pandemic (year 2021) in older people residing in urban areas of Argentina. A quantitative study, with a longitudinal design of trend and descriptive scope, was carried out with data from the Argentine Social Debt Survey (EDSA) of people aged 60 years and over residing in urban areas, collected in 2019 (n = 1357) and 2021 (n = 1289). The EDSA is a multipurpose survey used since 2010. It is administered annually between the months of July-October in urban areas with 80.000 inhabitants or more, and to around 5,800 households per year, and reaches around 1.300 older people. Respondents are at least 18 years old, but those 60 years and older were selected for this study. The sampling was probabilistic and multistage based on census data from 2010, with an instance of selecting urban conglomerates and then by socioeconomic stratification. Social support was assessed using the abbreviated version of the Argentine adaptation of the MOS Perceived Social Support Questionnaire (Rodríguez Espínola & Enrique, 2007). An interannual descriptive analysis was carried out using frequencies and percentages, using IBM SPSS software. The main results indicate that deficits in structural social support decrease during the pandemic, compared to the pre-pandemic. The lack of emotional social support increased during the pandemic, while the deficit in informational support has decreased and instrumental support remained without significant changes. Inequalities are expressed in the network and support functions in terms of socioeconomic level, the type of home in which the elderly person resides and when considering age and sex at both times. The greater the social, housing and educational vulnerability, the greater the deficiencies in structural and functional social support. Inequalities are expressed in the network and support functions in terms of socioeconomic level, the type of home in which the elderly person resides and when considering age and sex at both times. The greater the social, housing and educational vulnerability, the greater the deficiencies in structural and functional social support. Significant deficiencies are evident in the most vulnerable socioeconomic groups, at older ages and in those who live alone. The main contribution of this work is that the results come from a probabilistic sample and a longitudinal design, and it has the advantage of having results that can be generalized to the urban Argentine population. Due to the health crisis, new social challenges emerge, and interventions aimed at strengthening support networks in the groups considered vulnerable in this study are necessary. The promotion of this resource favors the various aging trajectories to be followed in a healthy manner, ensuring the quality of life of older people in each socioeconomic segment.