Under COVID-19 restrictions, older people were advised to avoid social contact and to self-isolate at home. The situation forced them to reconsider their everyday social spaces such as home and leisure time places. This study approached the meaning of social spaces for older people by examining how older people positioned themselves in relation to social spaces during the pandemic. The data were drawn from the Ageing and social well-being (SoWell) research project at Tampere University, Finland, and they consisted of phone interviews collected during the summer of 2020 with 31 older persons aged 64–96 years. The data were analysed using the frameworks of positioning analysis and environmental positioning. Results showed the positions of older people being manifold, flexible and even contradictory. Within home, the participants portrayed themselves as restricted due to limited social contact, but also as able to adapt to and content being alone. Virtual spaces were depicted as spaces for younger and healthy persons, and the participants themselves as sceptical technology users not satisfied with technology-mediated interaction. Within an assisted living facility, the participants described themselves as sensible and responsible persons who wanted to follow the facility's pandemic-related rules but also as independent persons having nothing to do with these rules. In the spaces outside the home, the participants portrayed themselves as persons who followed pandemic instructions but also as persons who were not required to follow the instructions because they could use their own judgement. These self-positions shed light on the social needs of older people in the spaces of their everyday lives. Our results provide useful insights for policy makers and professionals working with older people and will help to promote spaces of living, care and everyday life that can enhance and maintain social interaction and well-being both in times of change and in more stable times.

根据 COVID-19 限制，建议老年人避免社交接触并在家中自我隔离。这种情况迫使他们重新考虑日常社交空间，例如家庭和休闲场所。这项研究通过研究老年人在大流行期间如何定位自己与社交空间的关系，探讨了社交空间对老年人的意义。这些数据来自芬兰坦佩雷大学的老龄化与社会福祉 (SoWell) 研究项目，其中包括 2020 年夏季对 31 名 64-96 岁老年人进行的电话采访。使用定位分析和环境定位的框架对数据进行分析。结果显示，老年人的立场是多样的、灵活的，甚至是矛盾的。在家里，参与者将自己描述为由于社交接触有限而受到限制，但也能够适应并满足独处。虚拟空间被描述为年轻人和健康人的空间，而参与者本身是对技术介导的互动不满意的持怀疑态度的技术用户。在辅助生活设施内，参与者将自己描述为明智且负责任的人，希望遵守该设施与流行病相关的规则，但也是与这些规则无关的独立人士。在屋外的空间里，参与者将自己描绘成遵循流行病指示的人，但也将自己描绘成不需要遵循指示的人，因为他们可以做出自己的判断。这些自我定位揭示了老年人在日常生活空间中的社会需求。我们的研究结果为政策制定者和与老年人打交道的专业人士提供了有用的见解，并将有助于改善生活、护理和日常生活空间，从而在变革时期和更稳定的时期增强和维持社会互动和福祉。