AARP Florida E-Activists: Highlights Leading Coronavirus Concerns

St. Petersburg, Fla. – For nearly 2,000 AARP Florida E-Activists, today’s top coronavirus concern has little to do with how to wash your hands or whether you should wear a face mask. They believe they’ve got enough information to protect themselves and their loved ones.

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A bigger concern is how the economic impacts of the pandemic will affect their personal finances. And there’s broad agreement that giving back to others in their communities is a priority.

That’s the picture that emerges from a new AARP Florida survey sent to AARP E-Activists – AARP members who’ve signed up to receive regular updates from AARP about actions they can take to press federal, state or local elected officials to respond to the concerns of older Americans.

“This survey reflects a strong interest in helping others get through the pandemic with as little risk to life, safety or financial security as possible,” said Jeff Johnson, AARP’s Florida state director. “And there’s a lot of concern about scammers and con artists trying to exploit the virus to steal from older people.”

“We want to thank AARP Florida E-Activists for sharing their viewpoint with us,” Johnson said. “We’ll continue to reach out to our members to stay in close touch during this difficult time.”

It’s important to note, Johnson said, that this survey is not a scientifically constructed public opinion survey meant to reflect the opinions of a broader slice of the Florida population. It’s just a set of questions and answers provided by about 2,000 Florida E-activists.

AARP Florida sent the brief survey March 30 to E-Activists who have signaled interest in the coronavirus pandemic, including by opening AARP Florida email messages about the virus.

As far as health information goes, survey respondents seemed to think they had what they needed to protect themselves and their families. More than nine out of 10 agreed or strongly agreed they had the information they needed.

About seven in 10 agreed that most people in their communities were taking seriously the public-health measures suggested by government officials.

About seven in 10 also said they were finding it easy to cope with the stress, worry and isolation of the pandemic so far.

AARP Florida E-Activists also indicated a strong interest in giving back to their communities during this challenging time. About nine out of 10 agreed it is important to give back to our communities in this difficult time.

In comments submitted through the survey, AARP E-Activists said they’re especially interested in helping others through the loneliness many are feeling as they isolate themselves in their homes to slow the spread of the disease.

Survey respondents had a more pessimistic take on the toll the pandemic is taking on their personal finances. More than four in 10 said that the coronavirus outbreak already had had a major effect on their personal finances. Slightly more than half said the virus outbreak hadn’t yet had a major effect on their finances.

Nearly two-thirds said they’d like to have more information about how to protect themselves from scams and fraud related to the coronavirus outbreak.

For more information, resources and tools to help you get through the pandemic, please go to www.aarp.org/coronavirus.