The Needs of the Frail Elderly in Disaster Response
By Richard Shank
A new article published in the International Journal of Emergency Management urges readers to pay closer attention to the needs of the frail elderly during disaster planning and response. With more and more people living into their 80s and beyond, emergency management organizations and others in charge of managing people and resources during and after emergencies will face increasing challenges to meet the needs of older adults.
In 2008, the World Health Organization suggested that emergency management professionals should make supporting older adults in an emergency one of their primary goals. The reason is that older adults, especially the frail elderly, are at the greatest risk for adverse social, physical, and emotional impacts related to disasters.
The authors of this article suggest that emergency management activities must necessarily be extended beyond traditional personnel. They advocate for “age responsive” actions that will identify groups of people most at risk for being unable to care for themselves during an emergency situation.
An older adult is considered frail if they are over age 60 and suffer from mental, physical, and sensory deficits as a result of chronic disease or age. The ability to respond and even recognize the severity of an emergency situation is more likely to be impaired in this population than in any other. Furthermore, the frail elderly are more likely to be disadvantaged economically and isolated socially, further impeding their ability to respond in a way that would protect them from harm.
The authors urge collaboration between emergency management organizations and any entity that serves the frail elderly during disaster planning so that disaster responses can be more successfully implemented.
Source: Smith, S., Tremethick, M., Johnson, P., Gorski, J. 2009. Disaster planning and response: considering the needs of the frail elderly. International Journal of Emergency Management 6(1): 1-13.
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