Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2020 , Vol 23, Issue 4
IMPACT OF COVID-19 AMONG THE ELDERLY POPULATION
Önder İLGİLİ1, Yeşim GÖKÇE KUTSAL2
1Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, History of Medicine and Medical Ethics, Ankara, Turkey
2Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ankara, Turkey
DOI : 10.31086/tjgeri.2020.179 Humanity worldwide experienced an unprecedented, tremendous change since the end of 2019 and some scholars use the term "new normal" for our current state. A coronavirus disease outbreak occurred in December 2019, which was originated from Wuhan city of Hubei province in the People"s Republic of China and erupted into an international public health emergency in a month. It is clear that the elderly population is at a significantly higher risk of the severe outcome of COVID-19 and has the greatest risk of mortality. Since the early stages of the pandemic several measures adopted including social distancing, promoting staying home, cancellation of mass gatherings, and school closures, larger containment processes (such as entire towns or cities) to control the spread of the disease, and mitigate the negative consequences. At the same time, these measures have significant effects on the health of the elderly. An action in solidarity is needed to prevent the further community spread of the virus, protecting older people living alone in the community, as well as supporting all health and social care workers. In these difficult times, the elder people should not neglect or underestimate their own health problems and cling to life. They should keep in mind that; they are very valuable to their loved ones. Additionally, during the post-pandemic period, permanent problems may arise in adults in the older age group, which differ greatly from adults. It is necessary to be ready to deal with this, which depends on solving foreseeable problems. Keywords : Covıd-19; Pandemics; Aged; Nursing Homes; Frailty