Ervaringen van oudere Nederlandse thuiswonende migranten in de COVID-19 periode met COVID maatregelen

The Dutch government was compelled to take drastic measures to protect the population against COVID-19. It is known that these measures could have adverse side effects, such as social isolation, mental and physical deterioration, and increased frailty among older individuals. Little is known about the consequences of COVID-19 measures among older migrants. We investigated how older Dutch home-dwelling migrants experienced this period and these measures. We conducted 13 semi-structured interviews with older Dutch migrants aged 67–85 years living at home. Three themes emerged: emotions related to the COVID period, impact on physical, psychological, and social health and coping strategies. Participants expressed feelings of anger, sadness, isolation, and loneliness, and mentioned that the Dutch government’s preventive measures did not fit with cultural traditions. They were dependent on relatives and were constrained by language barriers. Minimal deterioration in physical health was reported by participants., Consistent with the findings of previous studies on older Dutch people, the measures affected mainly their social lives. They developed strate-gies, such as making increased telephone and video calls and alternatives to exercise. Our results could contribute to the development of strategies for protecting migrants from the negative consequences of restrictive measures in a future pandemic.