Covid-19 Impacts on Elderly with Disability

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DOI: 10.21522/TIJPH.2013.SE.22.01.Art005

Authors : Priya S Dev, J.O. Jeryda Gnanajane Eljo

Abstract:

Covid 19 pandemic created a high mortality risk among the elderly population, and it also affected more in the case of elderly with disabilities and elderly people those who have pre-existing comorbidities. The studies conducted worldwide have ingeminate the high risk for medical aid and increased cases of death rates in the national level in various countries that are dealing with Covid 19 pandemic. One of the shocking news is that 86% of all death among the elderly population have been reported in two countries, namely Colombia and Chile. In the case of Peru, 70 percent of the death which was reported due to Covid 19 was among elderly people. In this study, the author highlights the impacts of Covid 19 among the elderly with a disability, especially concentrating on their mental health aspects. The world is made up of work pressure, stressful life situations, and family responsibilities creating difficulties in taking care of elderly people with disabilities. During the Covid 19 pandemic, elderly people with disabilities faced a lot of changes in their life situations, especially the care and support they received and problems associated with the satisfaction of basic needs. The elderly with disability represent a chosen cluster of high-hazard issues for the growing Covid-19 with a greater chance of impairment. So, among older people with disabilities, mental health issues are also higher than in other age groups. Early prediction and personalized care and management must be provided to the elderly with disabilities.

Keywords: Covid-19, Elderly with Disability, Mental Health, Pandemic.

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