Seminars in Ageing: Because of the COVID-19, you can’t do much

Because of the COVID-19, you can’t do much: How older people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds experienced social (dis)connection during the pandemic

Presenter: Dr Ruth De Souza, RMIT University

Watch webinar recording

About the presentation

Restrictions during the pandemic created new challenges for older people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. This presentation presents findings from a small qualitative study with older adults in Australia and explores some of the methodological issues and opportunities in trying to do research from a distance.

About the presenter

Dr Ruth De Souza is a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Based in the School of Art, she is a nurse, academic and community engaged researcher in gender, race, health and digital technologies. Prior to coming to RMIT, she was the academic co-convenor of the Data, Systems and Society Research Network (DSSRN), a collaborative research network across the University of Melbourne. Her Fellowship engages health professionals in finding new ways to understand, co-design and implement sustainable cultural safety initiatives in a range of health contexts. Ruth's current projects include research on social isolation, digital technologies and the experiences of older people from culturally diverse backgrounds during COVID-19; how pregnant women from South Asian backgrounds used apps in pregnancy during the pandemic; affordances of patient generated health data in the community clinic and using design probes to facilitate discussions about digital health literacy among marginalised communities.

Further information: [email protected]

Watch webinar recording