Lay summary
Older people are unequally vulnerable to health effects of the current pandemic. This project will provide a public health response and recovery framework to support people aged over 55 during infectious disease threats in Aotearoa. The framework will use longitudinal data from 4000 older New Zealanders (37% Māori) who have participated in the Health, Work and Retirement Longitudinal Study across 15 years. The 2020 survey wave included items on participants’ experiences during the COVID-19 outbreak. A 12-month follow-up survey in 2021 will assess ongoing affects on wellbeing in a variety of domains to ascertain the health effects of experiences of government direction, work and volunteering, isolation, and ageism for different demographic groups. Specific attention will be given to the experiences of Māori, Pasifika, and Asian groups. The results will be used to develop a targeted response framework to be disseminated to all relevant government and non-government stakeholders.