“How can we work, how can we provide continuity to home care programmes, how can we continue supporting home care, the social care and the care at community level for people who are bedridden, disabled, living alone. That was the first challenge,” Mr. Klien said.

HelpAge is now receiving positive reports from countries in the region including Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. They are noticing a surge of solidarity at the community level and one example is that volunteers providing home care now do it on a one-to-one basis to avoid multiple contacts for older persons.

Another example is the Philippines where a partner in the HelpAge Global Network is working to ensure that old age pensions are delivered without recipients having to leave their homes, said Dr. Prakash Tyagi, Founder-Director of the GRAVIS hospital, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.

The GRAVIS hospital is part of the HelpAge Global Network and Dr. Tyagi said the network has been very active in the last three weeks as restrictions on movements and lockdowns spread. In India and Indonesia they are opening their health facilities to create special isolation units for older persons. 

In Pakistan, in rural areas older people’s associations are taking the lead on ensuring that targeted messaging reaches the population through local administrations and the media.

The work is at community level to ensure older people’s active involvement in the response and that community supports and home care continue to be available to older persons along with the encouragement of inter-generational solidarity which is important in avoiding isolation and making sure that older persons’ voices are heard.

In Korea, attention is paid to providing hand sanitizers and face masks to children, pregnant women and older persons in the community and encouraging social distancing, said Dr. Baeg Ju Na, Director General, Citizens’ Health Bureau, Seoul Metropolitan Government, Korea.

Dr. Na said there was a special focus on long-stay hospitals and nursing homes because the most vulnerable people especially older persons live in these facilities.

The importance of continued care mechanisms was emphasized by Japanese expert, Prof. Nahoko Harada, Department of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, University of Miyazaki.

Prof. Harada said disruption of daily routines cause psychological distress and care providers can be a source of infection for older people so preventive hygiene is critically important.

Country & Region

Asia