The COVID-19 pandemic in an aging world

Abstract

Since death rates from the COVID-19 are highest among the oldest, the impact of the current pandemic in a given society depends to a large extent on the share of elderly persons and their living arrangements. Whereas the former is well known, the latter is not. Arguably, contagion itself and the severity of its symptoms are likely to vary among elderly persons living alone, co-residing with family members or dwelling in institutions. Arguments in favour and against the premise that single-living elderly are better able to self-isolate can be made. Long-term care facilities have worsened the effects of the epidemic because they have often become death traps in some but not all countries. Once contagion takes place, living arrangements can make a huge difference in the way the disease can be managed by the individual, his family and society. Properly understanding the dynamics of contagion and the handling of the disease in terms of living arrangements of elderly people is essential for effectively tackling future outbreaks of similar epidemics.

Psychological impacts and online interventions of social isolation amongst older adults during COVID‐19 pandemic: A scoping review

“…They live alone either because they are widowed or have the desire for independence (Kaplan & Berkman, 2019). Due to the mandatory period of social distancing during the COVID‐19 pandemic, older adults who live alone are less likely to be exposed to the contagion (Reher et al, 2020); however, this could give way to long term and more serious negative effects because of reduced social contacts and support (Armitage & Nellums, 2020). In addition, the natural concomitant effect of an ageing population has increased the number of older adults in long‐term care facilities (de Medeiros et al, 2020).…”

La edad de la población en la COVID-19: controversias socio-demográficas sobre un hecho común

“…Otra perspectiva a considerar es la conjunción de la edad y/o determinados grupos de edad con el diagnóstico de otros procesos como la vulnerabilidad social (Morrow-Howell & Gonzales, Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles, (91) 2020) como consecuencia de su educación, nivel socioeconómico, estructura del hogar o la exclusión social relacionada con el lugar de residencia (Balbo et al, 2020). Todas esas condiciones pueden afectar, a su vez, al mantenimiento de relaciones sociales, especialmente en el caso de la población mayor de edad (Silva Alencar et al, 2021;Del Fava et al, 2020;Liotta et al, 2020) y máxime si se encuentra viviendo en residencias de personas mayores (Reher et al, 2020). La limitación de relaciones sociales con la edad durante COVID-19 puede conducir a la soledad y al deterioro de la salud mental (Van Tilburg et al, 2020).…”

The COVID-19 Contagion–Pandemic Dyad: A View from Social Sciences

“…The pandemic configuration is shaped by interdependent relationships between social structures and individuals. Social behaviours, structures and cognitive assessments are influenced by the unfolding of pandemics, as is the case of COVID-19 [8], with profound implications for the organisation of a society [20]. Table 1 offers some examples of this social dimension.…”

“…However, the exact number of those infected due to a lack of testing or those killed due to underreporting is not known. This pandemic has most significantly affected the older population and/or individuals with respiratory complications and other similar pre-existing diseases [6][7][8].…”