Impact of Natural Disasters on Health Outcomes Among Older Adults

geriatri-10-1-kapak-wos

Yasemin POLAT ÖZERa , Burcu Balam DOĞUa

aHacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Geriatrics, Ankara, Türkiye

ABSTRACT
Disaster can be defined as a severe disruption of the functioning of a community that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses that exceed the affected community’s ability to cope using its own resources. Additional problems brought by chronic diseases added to age-related loss of function make the older adults even more vulnerable in disasters. Older people, especially those with medical problems and limited mobility, may be particularly vulnerable in the event of a natural disaster. Natural disasters affect the geriatric population in many different aspects such as physical, mental, emotional, and social aspects. These features determine the degree of damage. Planning for natural disasters and measures to overcome that period with the least damage are of great importance. To minimize the devastating effect of disasters, different professions must work in harmony. It is important to prioritize vulnerability both in pre-disaster risk reduction studies and post-disaster response, rehabilitation periods.
Keywords: Aged; mental health; natural disasters; stress, psychological

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