Psychological sense of community, self-rated health and quality of life among older adults in Puerto Rico two years after Hurricane María

ABSTRACT

Older adults who experience natural disasters are at risk for immediate and longer-term negative health outcomes and diminished quality of life (QOL), in part due to disruptions to social relationships and protections. We use a risk and resilience framework to examine the protective effects of psychological sense of community (PSOC) on self-rated health (SRH) and QOL for older adults in Puerto Rico 2 years after the devastation of Hurricane María in 2017. Between September 2019 and January 2020, we conducted face-to-face interviews with a nonprobability sample of 154 community-dwelling adults aged 60+ in Puerto Rico. Controlling for covariates, we used multivariate regression to examine the association of PSOC and key social risk factors (mental health, social isolation, and loneliness) with SRH and QOL. Higher levels of PSOC were significantly associated with better SRH and QOL. Regarding risks, worse mental health was significantly associated with lower QOL and SRH, loneliness was significantly related to worse QOL, and social isolation was significantly associated with better SRH and better QOL. PSOC was a protective factor for older adults, suggesting that prevention and intervention efforts should focus on building and sustaining older adults’ sense of community in the longer-term wake of natural disasters.

KEYWORDS:

• Sense of community
• natural disaster
• older adults
• Puerto Rico
• quality of life
• self-rated health

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Humberto E. Fabelo, PhD, Kiara Carrasquillo-Sanchéz, MSW and Yamile Martí, PhD, for their invaluable assistance with study implementation.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Institutional Review Board Protocol

The Virginia Commonwealth University Institutional Review Board approved this study (HM20016772).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the School of Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth University.