THE PROBLEMS OF OLDER PEOPLE AND DIRECTIONS OF MEDICAL, SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Author(s):  
Т.В. Решетова ◽  
Е.С. Лаптева ◽  
В.В. Лукашкова ◽  
А.В. Решетов

В обзорной статье рассмотрены медицинские, психологические и социальные проблемы людей пожилого возраста в связи с пандемией. Продемонстрировано негативное влияние хронического стресса на формирование психопатологических расстройств (тревога, астения, паника, когнитивная дисфункция). На основании результатов собственного клинического опыта лечения и психологической коррекции этих психопатологических расстройств у людей старшего поколения, переживавших пандемию, а также по итогам аналогичных результатов других исследователей в разных странах, проведён анализ методов психологической поддержки при различных психопатологических расстройствах у пожилых людей. На основании результатов собственных исследований в период пандемии выявлено увеличение частоты астении и психосоматических расстройств у пациентов. Представлены алгоритмы дифференциальной диагностики и лечения астении в рамках постковидного синдрома. Описаны особенности опыта самоизоляции для пожилых людей в разных странах, проанализированы причины психической дезадаптации, формирования аддикций. Продемонстрированы алгоритм и итоги психологической поддержки, оказанной людям старшего поколения в формате работы организации социально-психологической помощи. The review article examines the medical, psychological and social problems that older people face due to the pandemic. The article contains the analysis of the mortality rate in the older age group in different countries. It also demonstrates the negative impact of the pandemic stress on the formation of psychopathological disorders (anxiety, asthenia, panic, cognitive dysfunction). The authors carried out an analysis of psychological support methods for various psychopathological disorders among the elderly, based on both the results of their own clinical experience in the treatment and psychological correction of the disorders of older people experiencing the pandemic, and similar results of other researches in other countries. The results of the presented research during the pandemic suggest that the frequency of asthenia and psychosomatic disorders in patients was increased. The paper presents algorithms for the differential diagnosis and treatment of asthenia as part of the post-covid syndrome. The article contains an objective scientific and practical assessment of the experience of self-isolation for the elderly, as well as the analysis of the reasons for mental maladjustment and the formation of addictions. The algorithm and the results of psychological support, provided to older people by a psychosocial support organization, are demonstrated.

Author(s):  
António Teixeira ◽  
Carlos Pereira ◽  
Miguel Oliveira e Silva ◽  
Joaquim Alvarelhão ◽  
Anabela G. Silva ◽  
...  

The world’s population is getting older with the percentage of people over 60 increasing more rapidly than any other age group. Telerehabilitation may help minimise the pressure this puts on the traditional healthcare system, but recent studies showed ease of use, usability, and accessibility as unsolved problems, especially for older people who may have little experience or confidence in using technology. Current migration towards multimodal interaction has benefits for seniors, allowing hearing and vision problems to be addressed by exploring redundancy and complementarity of modalities. This chapter presents and contextualizes work in progress in a new telerehabilitation service targeting the combined needs of the elderly to have professionally monitored exercises without leaving their homes with their need regarding interaction, directly related to age-related effects on, for example, vision, hearing, and cognitive capabilities. After a brief general overview of the service, additional information on its two supporting applications are presented, including information on user interfaces. First results from a preliminary evaluation are also included.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 6848
Author(s):  
Guiomar Merodio ◽  
Mimar Ramis-Salas ◽  
Diana Valero ◽  
Adriana Aubert

Ageism has a tremendous negative impact on elderly persons and society. Discrimination against the elderly is a driver of health and social inequalities. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed new social and health challenges regarding resource scarcity and shortfalls. Under these difficult circumstances, discourses excluding, and discrimination against, older people have aroused. This article gathers evidence on hospital healthcare experiences of older people infected by COVID-19 during the pandemic outbreak in Spain and it analyzes elements that have positively influenced older patients’ perceived health and well-being. We conducted nine qualitative in-depth interviews in Madrid—one of the regions of Spain most affected by COVID-19—with older people that were hospitalized and recovered from COVID-19, family members of old patients infected with COVID-19, and nurses that attended infected older patients. Findings show the challenging experiences faced by older people who were hospitalized due to COVID-19, on the one hand, and the relevance of transformative aspects related to family relationships, solidarity actions, and humanized care that overcame age discrimination, favoring social and equity healthcare for the elderly on the other hand.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-158
Author(s):  
Carolina Riveros ◽  
Ángela Arenas ◽  
Marcela Castro ◽  
Maximiliano Olivares

Purpose ”“ In the current development of Chilean society there is a profound socio-demographic transformation, which implies an advanced aging of the population. Methodology ”“ According to the 2017 Census, 17.7 percent - equivalent to 1,586,634 women - are 60 years of age or older, while men in the same age group account for 14.7 percent (1,263,537). This age group constitutes an enormous challenge for the design of public policies. Findings ”“ It is necessary to generate access policies that take into account the different educational levels of older people in order to overcome the digital divide, as well as incentives for skills and competencies in the various uses and benefits currently provided by ICTs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Naomi Nisari Rosdewi ◽  
Theresia Puspitawati ◽  
Herta Meisatama

Increased Life Expectancy has an impact on increasing the number of elderly people. Older people are part of a society that cannot be solved in our lives. Widodomartani Village, Ngemplak Subdistrict, Sleman DIY is one of the villages that has a high number of elderly people. Some of them still remain productive in their old age. This needs to be maintained and improved, considering that the elderly are the age group that is susceptible to disease. Promotive and preventive efforts are very important to do to improve the health of the elderly and to increase family expectations.Keywords: mucoskeletal, elderly, examination


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 15-34
Author(s):  
L.V. KOLPINA ◽  
◽  
I.V. BOYARINOVA ◽  

The purpose of the research is to study the influence of the life planning factor of representatives of the older age group on their self-limiting attitudes and practices. The article examines the influence of the planning factor on the self-limiting attitudes and practices of the older generation. The planning factor is presented in two options: planning of life at old age, carried out during the previous life stages (retrospective view), as well as actual planning by older people of their future for different periods. As a result of a study carried out on the basis of a questionnaire survey of the population aged 60 years and over (2019), it was found that the first type of planning has a very contradictory impact on the attitudes and practices of older people, while the second is definitely positive. It is also substantiated that life planning determines, first of all, a lower degree of interiorization of negative gerontostereotypes (thereby providing internal conditions for the implementation of a wider range of practices). However, if the limitations in the life practices of older people are determined from the outside (negative gerontostereotypes and attitudes of people reference for the elderly), then there is no statistically significant relationship between the values of (non) implementation of these practices and the planning factor.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Pishkar Mofrad ◽  
Mozhgan Jahantigh ◽  
Azizollah Arbabisarjou

<p><strong>INTRODUCTION &amp; AIM: </strong>Aging is considered as the phenomenon of the day in the health arena of the world and Iran. It is anticipated that there will be an explosion of aging population in Iran in about 2031 and 20-25% of the population will be aged over 60 years. With aging, chronic diseases also increase and diminish the functional ability of older people. On the other hand, increased healthcare costs should be also added to this issue. Health promotion is a concept of process that continues throughout life. As much as health promotion is important in children and adults, it is equally important in older people. In fact, the elderlies, as a group, also acquire many benefits from health promotion behaviors. Due to the increasing elderly population, geriatric health promotion and enhancing the health level of older people is proposed as a health priority that should be properly planned. Hence, the present study has been conducted in this regard and aims to identify behaviors of health promotion and chronic diseases of aging in the elderly people of Iranshahr-Iran.</p><p><strong>MATERIALS &amp; METHODS: </strong>The present research is a cross-sectional descriptive study whose population consists of 425 elderly people aged 60 years and over, who lived in the city of Iranshahr*, IR Iran. The random cluster sampling method has been used to select the research samples. The required information was collected using a questionnaire which was distributed among the older people through visiting their homes; then, the collected data was statistically analyzed using the statistical software of SPSS version 13.</p><p><strong>FINDINGS: </strong>the research findings show that the mean age of older people is  and the highest frequency belongs to the age group of 60 years and the maximum age is 92 years. 69.5% of the older people were in the age group of the young elderly (60-69 years) and 44% of them lived with their married children; also 55.8%, 81.9%, 70.5%, and 74.4% of them were respectively female, illiterate, married, and unemployed. The mean score of geriatric health promotion behaviors was in the range of 0-11 and 54.9% of them got the score of the inappropriate health promotion behavior. The most frequent chronic diseases of older people were respectively joint problems (78.9%), sensory problems (64.1%), and hypertension (56.6%). No significant relationship was observed between the score of health promotion behaviors and “the gender, lifestyle and marital status of the older people”, but there was statistically a significant relationship between the score of health promotion behaviors and “the age, education, and job of the older people”.</p><p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Providing training programs for health promotion behaviors in elderly people can improve these behaviors and enhance their health and quality of life and reduce the incidence of chronic diseases in them. The goal of health promotion behaviors is to maintain performance, independence and quality of life; and many studies have demonstrated that the elderly people who aged 60 years and over benefit from health promotion behaviors more than middle-aged people.</p>


Retos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 947-957
Author(s):  
Aquiles Alejandro Almonacid-Fierro ◽  
Manuel Alberto Almonacid Fierro

  El propósito de este artículo es comprender el significado que le otorgan adultos mayores de la zona central de Chile al periodo de la pandemia Covid-19 respecto a la salud y al ejercicio físico. Desde el punto de vista metodológico, la investigación se inscribe en la perspectiva del paradigma interpretativo-comprensivo, a través de metodología cualitativa. Se entrevistó a 17 adultos mayores en dos ocasiones, año 2020 año 2021, las entrevistas se realizaron vía Skipe o video llamada producto de las restricciones impuestas por la autoridad sanitaria, para evitar el contacto físico con los entrevistados. Los hallazgos del estudio dicen relación con los efectos adversos en términos psicosociales, que ha experimentado la población de adultos mayores producto del confinamiento, por otro lado, a pesar de la pandemia, los adultos mayores han mantenido hábitos saludables. En conclusión, se propone profundizar en estudios que permitan mostrar el impacto negativo del encierro en los adultos mayores y de esta manera influir para que el Estado asuma una mejor dirección en las políticas públicas dirigidas a este grupo etario. Abstract. The purpose of this article is to understand the meaning given by elderly adults in central Chile to the period of the Covid-19 pandemic concerning health and physical exercise. From the methodological perspective, the research is inscribed in the perspective of the interpretative-comprehensive paradigm, through the qualitative methodology. Seventeen seniors were interviewed on two occasions; the year 2020, the year 2021, the interviews were performed via Skype or video call due to the restrictions imposed by the sanitary authority, to avoid physical contact with the interviewees. The results of the study are related to the adverse effects in psychosocial terms that the elderly population has experienced as a result of the confinement, oppositely, despite the pandemic, the seniors have maintained healthy lifestyles. In conclusion, this study proposes further studies to show the negative impact of confinement on elderly adults and, as follows, influence the State to assume a better direction in public policies aimed at this age group.


Author(s):  
Катерина Годлевська ◽  
Кирил Котун

The article analyzes the features of technical organization and support of online webinars created for psychological support of the elderly and their families, their testing in social networks and use on the Internet by the target audience. The peculiarities of using the ZOOM platform, AnswerGarden and Padlet services to conduct a series of webinars created within the objectives of the project «Psychological support for the elderly in pandemic period», recommended for implementation in 2020-2021 with grant support by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine. Using online services for a series of webinars allowed participants to save time, as they do not need to spend it on the way to the venue of the webinars; most of the participants were in different cities and regions of Ukraine; Convenience was also important, as webinars participants could be in a convenient place. The results of webinars participant’s registration are covered, in particular: age category, type of employment, territorial affiliation. Here is an example of statistics on webinars views on the YouTube channel «Vik Obranyh». It is determined that the advantages of using webinars are: providing information accessible, understandable to anyone, language, taking into account the age characteristics of the elderly, reaching a large audience. The practical value of webinars lies in influencing the emotional, cog-nitive, and behavioral components of the individual's psyche to provide psychological support to older people who are in difficult life circumstances due to forced self-isolation. The social effect of webinars is that the use of the information obtained will help to improve the psychological well-being of older people in conditions of forced self-isolation. Difficulties identified during the webinar cycle were identified. The ways of high-quality provision of webinars organization, attraction of the audience with the help of advertising posts and e-mail mailings are revealed


Author(s):  
Javier Benítez ◽  
Nieves Perejón ◽  
Marcelino Arriaza ◽  
Pilar Bellanco

Loneliness has always been associated and reported as a risk factor of malnutrition in the elderly. People over 80 who live alone have deserved this study to detect their situation and potential for action to improve their quality of life. Objectives: To determinate the nutritional status of people over 80 living alone in the area of “La Laguna”, Cádiz. Material and method: In PIAMLA`80 program analyse those parameters and their possible correlations in a group of 342 elderly living alone over 80 years old. Different parameters were measured: Integral Geriatric Evaluation, Barthel, Lawton-Brody, Lobo, Gijon, specific analytical blood chemistry and MNA. Results: In a population of 984 people, were selected 342 initially, but finally the group decreases to 247 people. The mean Barthel was 80.42 points, 5.76 Lawton and Gijon from 11.3 Lobo 26.48. The MNA for the whole population was 24.25/30 detecting only a risk age group in women of 85-95. Correlation between nutrition and the biochemical test values showed positive for haemoglobin (0.19), total protein (0.26), Fe (0.32) and albumin (0.46). Conclusions: In our research we have not detected malnutrition in any age group or gender. The use of nutrition test MNA and its MINI version must be generalized as an accurate, clear, quick and easy tool to use.


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