In Bangladesh, the first COVID-19 confirmed case was reported on March 8, 2020, in a Rohingya refugee camp at Cox's bazar, and after that the number of positive cases has been increasing rapidly and spread throughout the country. Although, people from all age groups have been at danger, the risk for older adults have elevated due to their health conditions which have been entangled in different other illnesses due to age or other reasons.

As part of COVID-19 response, ARCED Foundation wanted to explore the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 among the Bangladeshi and Rohingya (Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals, FDMN) older adults residing in Bangladesh. The objective included the impact on social contact, loneliness, medication adherence for chronic disease and lifestyle activity among older adults along with perceived fear and anxiety and depression imposed by COVID-19 among the older adults. Additionally, we tried to explore the misconceptions regarding the spread, prevention and treatment of COVID-19 among older adults. 

This research was done with collaboration of a large number of academicians, practitioner, policymakers, and public health experts. 

The first round of data collection occurred from September 2020 to December 2020. A cross-sectional design was followed to collect information from 1000 older adults (>60 years old) from 8 divisions of Bangladesh and 400 Rohingya older adults. We used SurveyCTO based CATI to administer the surveys with Bangladeshi nationals over phone surveys. On the other hand, physical face-to-face interviews were conducted with Rohingya refugees (FCDNs).