Project

The impact of COVID-19 Fear: evidence to inform social, health and economic recovery - a Healthy Ageing In Scotland (HAGIS) study

Funded by UK Research and Innovation.

Collaboration with Generations Working Together, Scottish Government - Office of Chief Economic Advisor, Scottish Government - Social Security Scotland, Tec Enabled Care in Scotland and University of Edinburgh.

HAGIS: The COVID-19 Impact and Recovery Study

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted everyone in some way. The HAGIS: COVID-19 Impact and Recovery study is exploring how concerns linked to COVID-19 have impacted the way people aged 50+ live in Scotland. Specifically, our study explores how the spectrum of COVID-19 concern manifests in older people, and how it impacts on their social, health and economic behaviours.

We anticipate COVID-19 fear to affect individuals, intergenerational relationships, and society in myriad ways including:
(1) social isolation due to reservations around meeting others or engaging in pre-COVID activities; (2) poorer health and well-being due to i) reluctance to engage with medical professionals for fear of contracting COVID-19, or ii) over-zealous self-referral due to high health anxiety; (3) weakened economic recovery due to changing consumption and work patterns; (4) greater income and health inequality due to differential impacts by level of deprivation and by place. Our study will close knowledge gaps relating to these potential consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. This mixed-methods study will address these using our validated COVID-19 fear survey instrument, a large-scale survey, interviews with older people and professionals working in the social care, healthcare and third sector. This approach enables decomposition of responses to COVID-19 fear by socio-economic disadvantage and by place, helping satisfy an urgent need to understand the pandemic’s effects on inequality, intergenerational connections and on economic geography.

Total award value £575,340.00

People (5)

Dr Elaine Douglas

Dr Elaine Douglas

Associate Professor, Dementia and Ageing

Professor Louise McCabe

Professor Louise McCabe

Professor, Dementia and Ageing

Professor David Comerford

Professor David Comerford

Professor, Economics

Dr Alison Dawson

Dr Alison Dawson

Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Social Sciences

Dr Lesley McGregor

Dr Lesley McGregor

Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Psychology

Outputs (17)

Research Report

Douglas E, Bell D, Dawson A, Brown T, Pemble C, Houston J, Comerford D, Olivarius O, Duggan A, McCabe L, Douglas C, McGregor L & Coutts-Murray K (2022) HAGIS COVID Impact & Recovery Executive Summary Report. UKRI. Stirling. https://www.hagis.scot/reports


Research Report

Dawson A, Brown T, Pemble C & Douglas E (2022) COVID-19 and You: Impact & Recovery Study [A literature review to inform the development of a UK specific instrument to measure COVID-19 fear]. UKRI. https://www.hagis.scot/reports


Research Report

McCabe L, Brown T & Douglas C (2022) Feelings Losses And Opportunities Emerging From The Pandemic [HAGIS: Covid-19 and You - a qualitative study of older adults' experiences of living through COVID-19]. Douglas E (Project Leader) UKRI. Stirling. https://www.hagis.scot/_files/ugd/5d9fd0_55c2be6887a743bb9139ff98f4773f5d.pdf


Research Report

McCabe L, Brown T & Douglas C (2022) Experiences Of Health Engagement With Health Services [HAGIS Covid-19 and You: A qualitative report of older adults' experiences living through COVID-19]. UKRI. Stirling. https://www.hagis.scot/_files/ugd/5d9fd0_165fd0023bd0423d9657e183f7aedc83.pdf


Research Report

McCabe L, Brown T & Douglas C (2022) Technology And Social Connectedness [HAGIS Covid-19 And You: a qualitative study of older adults' experiences of living through COVID-19]. UKRI. Stirling. https://www.hagis.scot/_files/ugd/5d9fd0_444ece9ade794c9db9d1f3ddaf1a05e2.pdf


Research Report

Bell D (2022) Covid Fear And Life Satisfaction [HAGIS COVID-19 and You Study]. Douglas E (Project Leader) UKRI. Stirling. https://www.hagis.scot/_files/ugd/5d9fd0_3c773fdbb4b34a46b4d67be374a41c17.pdf


Research Report

Comerford D, Houston J, Duggan A, Bell D & Douglas E (2022) Expectations After And During The Pandemic [HAGIS COVID-19 AND YOU: IMPACT AND RECOVERY STUDY]. UKRI. Stirling. https://www.hagis.scot/_files/ugd/5d9fd0_edfb240231634b77bc0430f87b366ea4.pdf


Research Report

McGregor L, Brown T & Douglas E (2022) Health Service Engagement In Scotland During And After The Pandemic [HAGIS COVID-19 AND YOU: IMPACT AND RECOVERY STUDY]. UKRI. Stirling. https://www.hagis.scot/_files/ugd/5d9fd0_381d4f906fca4e92bf51ffe314087269.pdf


Research Report

McGregor L, Brown T & Douglas E (2022) Has The Pandemic Changed Older People's Worries About Health [HAGIS COVID-19 AND YOU: IMPACT AND RECOVERY STUDY]. UKRI. Stirling. https://www.hagis.scot/_files/ugd/5d9fd0_36c3c9483a6349ac941dec1f83871222.pdf


Conference Paper (published)

Brown T, Douglas E, Douglas C & McCabe L (2022) COVID-19 Impact and Recovery Survey: how COVID-19 fear impacts social, health and economic recovery from the pandemic in people aged over 50. In: Preparing for the future III: Tackling key challenges facing longitudinal population studies in a post-COVID world - Book of abstracts. CLOSER Preparing for the future III – tackling key challenges facing longitudinal population studies in a post-COVID world, Virtual, 20.01.2022. London: Closer. https://www.closer.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/Preparing-for-the-future-III-Book-of-abstracts.pdf


Conference Paper (published)

Douglas E, Bell DNF, Comerford D, McCabe L, Pemble C, McGregor L & Brown T (2021) The Impact of COVID-19 Fear: Evidence To Inform Social, Health And Economic Recovery - A Healthy Ageing In Scotland (HAGIS) Study. In: Ageing Past, Present and Future: Innovation and Change. British Society of Gerontology 50th Annual Conference, Online, 07.07.2021-09.07.2021. Hampshire: British Society of Gerontology, p. 165. https://www.britishgerontology.org/public/31949/BSG_Conference_Book_2021_Online_v2.pdf


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