The Main Issues and Challenges Older Adults Face in the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A Scoping Review of Literature

DOI

10.18502/ijph.v49i12.4810

Authors

Khorshid Mobasseri, Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Saber Azami-Aghdash, Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Management and Medical Informatics, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Ahmad Khanijahani, Department of Health Administration and Public Health, John G. Rangos School of Health Sciences, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Rahim Khodayari-Zarnaq, Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Management and Medical Informatics, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

12-1-2020

Publication Title

Iranian journal of public health

Volume

49

Issue

12

First Page

2295

Last Page

2307

Keywords

Mental health, Nursing homes, Older adults, Review, SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Disease 2019 (SARS-CoV-2) severely affects those above the age of 60 yr and those with other conditions. This study aimed to review the available evidence on older adult's issues in facing the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The framework is based on scoping review of literature published from Jan 10 to Jul 31, 2020. Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases and other sources of information, to identify grey literature, were selected for data collection. Two researchers independently screened all studies and extracted data. All types of studies published about SARS-CoV-2 and related to older adults' issues were eligible. RESULTS: Overall, 210 documents were included in the final analysis. Letter to the editor was the most frequent article format (20.95%). Most of the papers were from the United States (38.09%) and published in Jun 2020 (29.52%). After content analysis, six following themes were extracted: Supporting and information sources, e-health services, access to essential supplies, Long Term Care Facilities (LTCFs), physical and mental consequences of self-isolation, neglect of older adults, ageism and age discrimination. CONCLUSION: In the pandemic, there is an urgent need for interventional research and innovational implementations to address issues related to providing services for older adults. This can help older adults to maintain their physical and mental health, and reduce the spread of infection in nursing homes. Further studies focusing on the rights of the older adults are needed on all issues associated with COVID-19.

Open Access

Gold

Repository Citation

Mobasseri, K., Azami-Aghdash, S., Khanijahani, A., & Khodayari-Zarnaq, R. (2020). The Main Issues and Challenges Older Adults Face in the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A Scoping Review of Literature. Iranian journal of public health, 49 (12), 2295-2307. https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v49i12.4810