Perception of Chilean older adults in relation to health and physical exercise in pandemic Covid-19

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to understand the meaning given by elderly adults in central Chile to the period of the Covid-19 pandemic concerning health and physical exercise. From the methodological perspective, the research is inscribed in the perspective of the interpretative-comprehensive paradigm, through the qualitative methodology. Seventeen seniors were interviewed on two occasions; the year 2020, the year 2021, the interviews were performed via Skype or video call due to the restrictions imposed by the sanitary authority, to avoid physical contact with the interviewees. The results of the study are related to the adverse effects in psychosocial terms that the elderly population has experienced as a result of the confinement, oppositely, despite the pandemic, the seniors have maintained healthy lifestyles. In conclusion, this study proposes further studies to show the negative impact of confinement on elderly adults and, as follows, influence the State to assume a better direction in public policies aimed at this age group.