New webinar explores the impact of the pandemic on older adults
View the full slide set here, and a video recording from the 2.5 hour webinar is available here.
Edward Alan Miller, Gerontology Department Professor and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Aging & Social Policy (JASP), led the webinar “Older Adults and COVID-19: Implications for Aging Policy and Practice” based on a JASP special issue and book of the same title. The February webinar drew more than 500 registrants from around world to learn about the ramifications of the pandemic for older adults and their families, caregivers, and communities.
Editor-in-chief Edward A. Miller
“We are extremely gratified with how the webinar turned out, drawing participants and viewers from throughout the United States and globally,” said Miller. “It illustrates how the problems and issues brought to the fore by the pandemic will continue to reverberate well beyond the present day to the years to come.”
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has prompted an outpouring of scholarly work on the effect of the pandemic on various populations. Older adults – as well as their formal and informal caregivers – have received a disproportionate share of the pandemic’s impacts. Direct exposure to the virus led to a higher rate of hospitalization and death among older populations, particularly in nursing homes and other congregate living environments. This reality prompted mandates meant to mitigate the virus’ effects on older adults and which, in turn, led to unintended consequences, such as increased social isolation, enhanced economic risk, delays in receiving medical treatment and other supports, and latent ageism.