Healthy Aging in the Time of Corona Pandemic

Abstract

Background: The key considerations for healthy aging are diversity and inequity. Diversity means that there is no typical older person. Policy should be framed to improve the functional ability of all older people, whether they are robust, care dependent or in between.

Objective: The aim of this article is to describe negative influence of Corona pandemic (COVID-19) for realization of the WHO project about Healthy Aging global strategy proposed in the targets "Health for all".

Methods: Authors used descriptive model for this cross-sectional study based on facts in analyzed scientific literature deposited in on-line databases about healthy aging concept of the prevention and treatment of the people who will come or already came to the "third trimester of the life".

Results and discussion: Some 80-year-olds have levels of physical and mental capacity that compare favorably with 30-year-olds. Others of the same age may require extensive care and support for basic activities like dressing and eating. Policy should be framed to improve the functional ability of all older people, whether they are robust, care dependent or in between. Inequity reflects a large proportion (approximately 75%) of the diversity in capacity and circumstance observed in older age is the result of the cumulative impact of advantage and disadvantage across people's lives. Importantly, the relationships we have with our environments are shaped by factors such as the family we were born into, our sex, ethnicity, level of education and financial resources.

Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic "celebrated" one year of existing in almost all countries in the world with very difficult consequences for whole population. But in the first risk group are old people who have in average 6 to 7 co-morbidities. WHO recommended some measures to improve prevention and treatment this category of population, but COVID-19 pandemic stopped full realization of Decade of Healthy Aging project.

Keywords: corona pandemic; healthy aging.