Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jan 15:8:609695.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.609695. eCollection 2020.

COVID-19 Amplifiers on Health Inequity Among the Older Populations

Sora Lee  1
Affiliations

COVID-19 Amplifiers on Health Inequity Among the Older Populations

Sora Lee. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is affecting the population disproportionately and is continuously widening the health gap among the population. Based on some recent studies on COVID-19 and the older population, the various cascades toward health inequity have been projected. This study highlights how the COVID-19 is met by health inequity triggers, such as global trade inequality, ageist social regulations, and the existing social inequity. While those triggers are applicable to all the populations, there seems to be specific amplifiers for health inequity among the older populations. In particular, six types of amplifiers have been identified: (1) expansion of riskscape, (2) reduction of social ties, (3) uncertainty of future, (4) losing trust in institutions, (5) coping with new knowledge, and (6) straining on public spending. While the fundamental mitigating responses to health inequity among the older population is tackling existing inequalities, this study may help to shed light on emerging vulnerabilities among the older population to alleviate far-reaching consequences of COVID-19 of the identified inequity amplifiers.

Keywords: COVID-19; aging; health equity; public health policy; social determinants.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer CJB declared a shared affiliation, though no other collaboration, with one of the authors SL to the handling Editor.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Selection process for the scoping review. The conceptual model of COVID-19 triggers and amplifiers on health inequity among the older populations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Situation Report-127. (2020). Available online at: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/2... (accessed September 22, 2020).
    1. Dwolatzky T. If not now, when? the role of geriatric leadership as covid-19 brings the world to its knees. Front Med. 7:232. 10.3389/fmed.2020.00232 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Calderón-Larrañaga A, Dekhtyar S, Vetrano DL, Bellander T, Fratiglioni L. COVID-19: risk accumulation among biologically and socially vulnerable older populations. Ageing Res Rev. (2020) 63:101149. 10.1016/j.arr.2020.101149 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Turner-Musa J, Ajayi O, Kemp L. Examining social determinants of health, stigma, and COVID-19 disparities. Healthcare. (2020) 8:168. 10.3390/healthcare8020168 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Whitehead M. The concepts and principles of equity and health. Health Promotion Int. (1991) 6:217–28. 10.1093/heapro/6.3.217 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types