When Helpers and Older Adults Face War Together: A Shared Reality of Trauma, Coping, and Protective Resources

Background and Purpose:
War poses profound threats to human security and well-being, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations and challenging equitable and inclusive societies. Older adults are particularly at risk due to limited mobility, reduced access to healthcare, medications, food, and water, and financial constraints, all of which heighten physical vulnerability and psychological distress. At the same time, social work professionals supporting them are exposed to similar conditions of risk, uncertainty, and loss while serving on the frontlines.

Despite growing attention to war-related trauma, limited research has examined the shared experiences of older adults and professionals within the same conflict context, particularly from culturally grounded perspectives. Addressing this gap, this study examines how evacuation is experienced and how shared exposure to war shapes coping, care, and relational dynamics in a marginalized minority context.

Methods:
This qualitative study was conducted in two stages. First, three focus groups were held with 10 professionals, including social workers, caregivers, and trauma specialists providing support to older adults during the war. Second, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 older adults (aged 66–84) from a Bedouin-Arab minority community directly exposed to military attacks following October 7 and during the war with Hezbollah along the Lebanon border. Participants included individuals who remained in the village during evacuation and those who returned while the war was ongoing. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis, with attention to emotional, relational, and cultural dimensions.

Findings:
Findings reveal a shared emotional landscape between professionals and older adults, characterized by fear, distress, and ongoing exposure to danger. Professionals described a dual burden, navigating their own trauma while providing care under limited resources, high workload, and unclear institutional guidance, requiring continuous negotiation between institutional expectations and clients’ needs.

A gap emerged between standardized responses and the culturally grounded needs of older adults, particularly regarding attachment to home and meanings of displacement. In response, professionals adapted and improvised, expanding their roles to provide culturally sensitive and emotionally attuned care.

For older adults, decisions to remain in or return home were closely tied to cultural, spiritual, and relational meanings. Home was experienced not only as a physical space, but also as a source of identity, dignity, and continuity, shaping coping strategies and protective resources even under conditions of risk.

Conclusions and Implications:
This study highlights the concept of shared trauma, emphasizing that both service users and providers are embedded within the same context of crisis. The findings underscore the need for flexible, culturally responsive social work policies and interventions grounded in local knowledge.

Advancing social work research for the common good requires centering marginalized voices, addressing structural inequalities, and strengthening systems of care for both older adults and professionals. Integrating cultural and relational dimensions, improving coordination and institutional support, and ensuring the active participation of older adults in decision-making are essential for promoting equity, dignity, and democratic inclusion in contexts of war and displacement.