Coping with the effects of covid-19 by the elderly headed households in Goma division, Mukono municipality

Abstract

This study focused on the coping mechanism adopted by the elderly headed households in the mitigation of the effects of cope Coronavirus Diseases (COVID-19) in Goma Division, Mukono Municipality. The study was undertaken using purely qualitative methods that entailed in-depth interviews and direct observation of the 10 purposively selected elderly households. The study findings indicated that the effects of COVID-19 on the elderly headed households exacerbated the already bad socio-economic situation that the elderly heads and members of their families lived. With the onset of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns, all the 10 studied elderly headed households were faced with tremendous economic hardships, scarcity of food items challenges of accessing health facilities and medical care, loneliness. Myriad of coping strategies with the effects of COVID19 were adopted by the studied households. These included; eating one meal a day, green vegetables as sauce was often eaten, keeping of the left food for super, certain households offered labour to get food like cassava, matooke, yams, some household members played games like cards,” Ludo” to pass time, water was taken in plenty to cover up the gap. Health wise, household members who felt sick prescribed medicine for themselves, went to the nearby clinics to get drugs, others used local herbs to treat illness, steaming. In relation to income maintenance, those with petty business continued selling items, other households resorted to borrowing money from neighbours, credit agents to enable them meet basic needs. The findings reveal that even without COVID-19 pandemic, elderly households faced daily to daily challenges that adversely impacted on the wellbeing of members. It is this regard that this study in the event of similar pandemic such as COVID-19, government should establish relief packages at the local level, in order for the elderly headed households to gain easy access, registration of elderly headed households, skilling the able-bodied members of the elderly households in strategies of coping with the effects of any pandemic and food security.