ArticleBMJ open2021
COVID-19-related social support service closures and mental well-being in older adults and those affected by dementia: a UK longitudinal survey.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 109 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Global Impact of COVID-19 Control Measures on People With Dementia Living at Home and Their Carers: A Systematic Review of Quantitative and Qualitative Research Across 27 Countries.Brain and behavior · 2025Pooled it
- Global trends in dementia care research in the context of COVID-19: bibliometric analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Technological interventions in European dementia care: a systematic review of acceptance and attitudes among people living with dementia, caregivers, and healthcare workers.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- The early impacts of COVID-19 on people living with dementia: part I of a mixed-methods systematic review.Aging & mental health · 2023Pooled it
- The early impacts of COVID-19 on unpaid carers of people living with dementia: part II of a mixed-methods systematic review.Aging & mental health · 2023Pooled it
- The impact of social isolation from COVID-19-related public health measures on cognitive function and mental health among older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Ageing research reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Dementia and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- The Importance of the Social Environment for People Living With Dementia and Their Carers: Qualitative Evidence From DETERMIND and PriDem on the Impact of COVID-19 Service Changes and Restrictions in England and Wales.Dementia (London, England) · 2026Article
- Mental-Health-Related Temporary Work Disability Among Informal Caregivers During the COVID-19 Lockdown in Spain (March-June 2020): A Nationwide Occupational Health Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- The impact of social support on quality of life among older adults in times of COVID-19 pandemic in Dongguan, China: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Family physician and specialist care for persons with dementia living in the community: through thick and thin.Family practice · 2025Article
- "Necessity is the mother of invention": Experiences of accessing and delivering dementia-related support services by information communication technology during the pandemic in the UK.Dementia (London, England) · 2025Article
- Effect of glucose variability on the mortality of adults aged 75 years and over during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Services for older adults in rural primary care memory clinic communities and surrounding areas: a qualitative descriptive study.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Altered place engagement since COVID-19: A multi-method study of community participation and health among older americans.Wellbeing, space and society · 2024Article
- Pre-pandemic trajectories of depressive symptomatology and their relation to depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: longitudinal study of English older people.BJPsych open · 2023Article
- The Impact of Culture-, Health- and Nature-Based Engagement on Mitigating the Adverse Effects of Public Health Restrictions on Wellbeing, Social Connectedness and Loneliness during COVID-19: Quantitative Evidence from a Smaller- and Larger-Scale UK Survey.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- A Community of Practice to increase education and collaboration in dementia and ageing research and care: The Liverpool Dementia & Ageing Research Forum.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2023Article
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Psychological Well-Being of Caregivers of People with Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Social support services for dementia during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal survey exploring service adaptations in the United Kingdom.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
24 authors at 10 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on delivery of social support services. This might be expected to particularly affect older adults and people living with dementia (PLWD), and to reduce their well-being.
aimsTo explore how social support service use by older adults, carers and PLWD, and their mental well-being changed over the first 3 months since the pandemic outbreak.
methodsUnpaid dementia carers, PLWD and older adults took part in a longitudinal online or telephone survey collected between April and May 2020, and at two subsequent timepoints 6 and 12 weeks after baseline. Participants were asked about their social support service usage in a typical week prior to the pandemic (at baseline), and in the past week at each of the three timepoints. They also completed measures of levels of depression, anxiety and mental well-being.
results377 participants had complete data at all three timepoints. Social support service usage dropped shortly after lockdown measures were imposed at timepoint 1 (T1), to then increase again by T3. The access to paid care was least affected by COVID-19. Cases of anxiety dropped significantly across the study period, while cases of depression rose. Well-being increased significantly for older adults and PLWD from T1 to T3.
conclusionsAccess to social support services has been significantly affected by the pandemic, which is starting to recover slowly. With mental well-being differently affected across groups, support needs to be put in place to maintain better well-being across those vulnerable groups during the ongoing pandemic.
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Registered trials
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