A RESEARCH ON THE THOUGHTS OF THE SOCIETY TOWARDS THE ELDERLY AND THE DISABLED PEOPLE IN THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Abstract

The aim of this study is to present the situation of elderly and disabled people in Turkey in the pandemic within the framework of social variables. During this process, the society's thoughts and approaches to the elderly and disabled were described. In this study conducted in a mixed research design, the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants were examined with closed-ended questions, their opinions about how the disabled and the elderly were affected by the pandemic process, and the general attitude and suggestions of the public regarding protection from the pandemic by asking open-ended questions. Findings obtained from the data were interpreted by making descriptive predictions. Considering the general attitude towards elderly and disabled people based on the findings obtained from the research, the necessity of expanding local and public services for the elderly, shaping the social, psychological and economic supports for the disabled according to the needs of the disabled and implementing restrictive practices during the pandemic process come to the fore.