Locked Inside: Senior Citizens during Pandemic

Abstract

The right to the city, the right to livelihood, the right to move, the right to work, the right to being in a place have all got disrupted in the past few months. The unprecedented crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has sent waves of anxiety and panic throughout the world. The infection does not seem to spare any age group but the elderly are at a higher risk.  Elder abuse is a universal pervasive problem of paramount public health importance that garners little attention. Elders suffer from abuse in various ways, like physical, psychological, sexual, material exploitation, and neglect, by their trustworthy caregivers. The elderly face social isolation and one need various ways to mitigate the adverse effects of social isolation. Potential risk factors are social isolation, cognitive impairment, traumatic life events, and dependence on abusers, poor physical and mental health and low social support are some of the concerns.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant social restrictive measures such as lockdown in most places throughout the world, elderly abuse has increased to a great extent. This paper discusses plausible reasons and various socio-cultural factors of elderly abuse. It could lead to the possibility of a menace into a ‘social pandemic’ in the future.