Mitigation of Risks of Complications and Deaths among the Elderly during Pandemics- Designing an Integrated Communication Framework Based on the Accumulated Experience of the Elderly Risks during the COVID-19 First Wave

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a contagious disease that has triggered a global crisis and led to more than 425,000 deaths till the time of this paper. Most of those death occurred among the elderly which proven to be the most high risk vulnerable group both physically and mentally. This paper targets to address the vulnerability of the elderly age group during COVID-19, with a focus on both the immunological and mental health aspects. The analysis of the literature published on the pandemic shows that the policies for social isolation for the elders can be better aligned to compensate for the variety of needs of this elderly group. Holistic risk mitigation, communication model framework is proposed to compensate for the preventive demands of both elderly’s mental and physical health during pandemics, based on the experience of the first wave.