• COVID-19
  • THEMES
  • USAID INVESTMENTS
  • SPECIAL FOCUS AREAS
    • Corporate TB Pledge
    • Urban Health
    • Inclusive Development
  • PHC INNOVATIONS
  • LEARNING LIBRARY
  • DATA VISUALIZATION

This section hosts guidelines, manuals and toolkits to strengthen public health practice.

Resources

FILTER
BY CATEGORY

View All

COVID-19 Stay Tuned Nutrition For implementers For policymakers Report For researchers Research Urban Health M&E

EXPLORE DATA
VISUALIZATIONS

Explore key data on health and its determinants in India through interactive graphs.

Older people and COVID-19: Isolation, risk and ageism.

14 Jul 2022
Emerging Pandemics

by Joanne Brooke, Debra Jackson 10 MIN

This article sheds insight on the topic of Older People and COVID-19: Isolation, Risk, and Ageism. Comparatively speaking to Covid-19, this qualitative investigation is given far less attention than the usual emphasis on other areas of population and health. Governments and health agencies around the world are cautioning older individuals that they are more likely to develop more severe and potentially deadly illnesses related to COVID-19. The probability of mortality, according to statistics on mortality from the Oxford COVID-19 Evidence Service, is 3.6 percent for those in their 60s, rising to 8.0 percent and 14.8 percent for those in their 70s and older. Therefore, social isolation, which is being at home and avoiding interaction with others, possibly for a lengthy period of time, now estimated to be between three and four months, is included in the global recommendation for older populations. Older persons may have emotions of worthlessness, a sensation of being a burden and having no value, as a result of ageist discourses and the subtext of negativity and denigrating them. When these characteristics are taken into account in light of contemporary social constraints, older individuals are made especially susceptible to a variety of detrimental health and social effects, especially social isolation and loneliness. The negative effects on older people's physical and mental health, which have been known for more than 20 years, make it imperative and important to acknowledge social isolation and loneliness. Older adults who are socially isolated and lonely have higher rates of anxiety, depression, cognitive dysfunction, heart disease, and mortality. Regular meaningful phone calls could be one method to support seniors during the present health crisis, ensuring that their emotional, social, and physical health needs are met and that they know how to ask for and obtain care when necessary. To guarantee that every older person has some meaningful social contact to support them, extensive networks might be developed between family members, friends, neighborhood charities, volunteer organizations, and community nurses. Charities, organizations, and healthcare professionals could collaborate through an organized and thorough strategy to support older people through this time of social isolation as well as to minimize and ameliorate the harmful effects of ageism, social isolation, and loneliness.

Related File :

4126844282.pdf

Categories

COVID-19
KEY ORGANIZATIONS
Connect with Us
Subscribe to the Newsletter

FOLLOW US

  • HOME
  • THEMES
  • USAID INVESTMENTS
  • SPECIAL FOCUS AREAS
  • LEARNING LIBRARY
  • DATA VISUALIZATION
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
Disclaimer: This website is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Learning4impact partnership is supported by USAID/India Health Office, under Cooperative Agreement # 72038618CA00001 with Swasti. The information provided on this website is not official U.S. Government information and does not necessarily represent the views or positions of USAID, the United States Government, or Swasti.
Copyright 2025 Swasti Health Catalyst

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Submit Feedback

  • COVID-19
  • THEMES
  • USAID INVESTMENTS
  • SPECIAL FOCUS AREAS
    • Corporate TB Pledge
    • Urban Health
    • Inclusive Development
  • PHC INNOVATIONS
  • LEARNING LIBRARY
  • DATA VISUALIZATION