Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-27-2020

Publication Title

Journal of Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

First page number:

1

Last page number:

6

Abstract

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has created a public health emergency and had claimed 911,877 lives at the time of writing this manuscript (September 12, 2020). While everybody is at the risk of acquiring infection following the exposure to SARS-CoV-2, older adults are significantly more likely to experience severe illness, life-threatening complications, hospitalizations, and deaths. As the pandemic evolved, social distancing or shielding efforts as primary prevention were instituted to protect the physical health status of the vulnerable population, with no or limited consideration to the psychological health of the older population. Social isolation and loneliness are the long-standing public health concerns among older adults, which appear to be exacerbating amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the pre-existing risk of late-life psychiatric disorders among older individuals, it is critical to determine challenges posed by COVID-19 and associated social distancing protocols as it relates to the psychosocial well-being of the aging population. Such information is imperative to design targeted interventions to fulfill the unmet needs of the older population. Therefore, this review endeavors to identify the healthcare and emotional needs of the aging population during the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of psychological health and social capital. Additionally, this review also identifies the barriers in the uptake of telepsychiatry and highlights the need for promoting remote counseling services among older people to promote their psychosocial well-being.

Keywords

Social isolation; Loneliness; Older adults; Psychological health; COVID-19; Telepsy-chiatry

Disciplines

Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene | Public Health

File Format

pdf

File Size

254 KB

Language

English

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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