ELDERLY PEOPLE, COVID-19 AND TECHNOLOGIES: A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH.

From a psycho-pedagogical point of view, entering the category of elderly people means having an age from 65 years onwards. The medical development, the increase in the level of education and the progressive postponement of leaving the world of work have contributed to improve the quality of life of elderly people and, increase the survival rate. At this historic moment, the health emergency caused by the uncontrolled spread of the Covid-19 virus has significantly reduced the quality of life of the whole population, from children to the elderly. Technologies, as never before, expand the possibilities of communication, sociality, information and access to services. This paper aims to illustrate the qualitative research carried out with older people during the quarantine period for the Covid-19 emergency. This research stems from a question: How do older people manage to get out of the aloneness created by the Covid-19 emergency? The researchers chose to carry out a qualitative research to answer this question. Participants will be 30 elderly people aged 65 or more, present in Italy. The research methodology has provided the realization of a semi-structured interview. The interview questions were also divided into three topics: daily life before and after Covid-19, ways of interacting with people during the emergency from Covid- 19 and the use of technologies. This qualitative research is still in progress due to the prolongation of the Covid19 emergency and represents a starting point. The data of this research can be useful for the design of trainings for educators, social workers, family members who relate daily to older people, but at the same time they are used to be able to implement concrete actions with and for older people in order to help them improve the quality of life both in emergency and in "normal" contexts.