Social death of the older adult population reinforced in pandemic times

Basheer, Najuah Sael; Solanho, Gabriela Sulzbach; Baracat, Ana Carolina Coelho; Mecabo, Alice; Galvani, Giovana Nishiyama; Crisgiovanni, Fábio Luigi; Roderjan, Amanda Kuster; Guirro, Úrsula Bueno do Prado

doi:10.1590/1983-803420233407EN

Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

Brasil

Español English

sumário « anterior atual seguinte »

Sumário

Research • Rev. Bioét. 31 • 2023 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1983-803420233407EN copy

Social death of the older adult population reinforced in pandemic times

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

In a context in which the neglect toward the older adult population grows, the COVID-19 pandemic has made evident the lack of inclusion and care that these people face, creating a phenomenon of non-belonging and exclusion that can be described by the term “social death.” This study aims to analyze the social death of the older adult population from an integrative literature review that includes studies related to social death, older adults and the pandemic. Of the 1,291 studies found in the databases, 15 articles were selected, in which it was observed that aging is not understood as a physiological process, but as a disease, so that older adults are removed from society and treated exhaustively until they die in isolation. It can be concluded that a specific gaze toward this population is necessary to ensure their (re)integration and active participation in society.

Aging; COVID-19; Comprehensive health assistance; Mental health

Authors; year	Article	Country	Study type	Findings
Mazzela and collaborators; 2010 ⁷	“Social support and long-term mortality in the elderly: role of comorbidity”	Italy	Cross-sectional, observational	Low socioeconomic class, loneliness and associated comorbidities are among the major determinants of readmissions and mortality among older adults. Low social interaction is an important factor that predicts mortality.
Gronewold and collaborators; 2020 ⁸	“Association of social relationships with incident cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality”	Germany	Cross-sectional, observational	Feeling alone or living isolated from society is associated with high cardiovascular risk and morbidity and mortality independent of other risk factors in older adults.
Hernandez and collaborators; 2021 ⁹	“Suicide among older adults: interactions among key risk factors”	United States	Retrospective	Lack of hope, followed by depression and a negative view of one’s own health were the main risk factors for suicide in the older adult population. Physical diseases had little impact on the suicide rate.
Andrade and collaborators; 2017 ¹⁰	“Vulnerabilidade de idosos a infecções sexualmente transmissíveis”	Brazil	Cross-sectional, observational	Health care professionals tend to think that older adults are “asexual” or even that they have a single sexual partner. This leads to the lack of communication on the subject with these people, being among the causes of the high rates of sexually transmitted infection in this population.
Ribeiro and collaborators; 2017 ¹¹	“Coping strategies used by the elderly regarding aging and death: an integrative review”	Brazil	Literature review	The different strategies to cope with aging and death depend significantly on how society sees this stage of life: denying the inevitable or adapting the difficulties of this time to each individual without judgment. In the study, it is emphasized that the West confers a negative character to aging, which makes this process a negative and lonely experience for those who experience it.
Souza, Giacomin; 2020 ¹²	“Care for frail older adults in the community: an integrative review”	Brazil	Literature review	It is necessary to recognize, study and care for frail older adults; however, it is of paramount importance for the prognosis of these patients that their autonomy is encouraged.
Fagundes and collaborators; 2017 ¹³	“Instituições de longa permanência como alternativa no acolhimento das pessoas idosas”	Brazil	Description	Neglect in the treatment of the older adult population is institutionalized. Long-stay institutions are often seen as a negative experience for older adults. These institutions lack health inspections, as well as effective care for older adults.
Kotwal and collaborators; 2021 ¹⁴	“The epidemiology of social isolation and loneliness among older adults during the last years of life”	United States	Cross-sectional, observational	One of the main factors responsible for the high rates of older people in social isolation is the lack of dialogue about aging and end of life, as well as the lack of methods and initiatives capable of recognizing the signs of distancing and loneliness in older adults.
Kim, Jung; 2021 ¹⁵	“Social isolation and psychological distress during the covid-19 pandemic: a cross-national analysis”	South Korea	Cross-sectional, observational	Social isolation caused by COVID-19 was directly associated with psychological distress in older adults.
Goveas, Shear; 2021 ¹⁶	“Grief and the covid-19 pandemic in older adults”	United States	Cross-sectional, observational	The increase in cases of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is a sequela of the current pandemic time. And this situation is responsible for higher morbidity and mortality in older adults.
Fraser and collaborators; 2020 ⁶	“Ageism and covid-19: what does our society’s response say about us?”	Canada	Reflective	The way society coped with the death of older adults during the pandemic underlines the extent to which this population is underestimated. There were no critical analyses of the high number of older victims of COVID-19.
Gonzaga and collaborators; 2018 ¹⁷	“Profissionais de saúde: um ponto de vista sobre a morte e a distanásia”	Brazil	Cross-sectional, observational	Knowledge and understanding about death and dying are among the least discussed subjects during the academic training of health care professionals. Thus, the understanding that death is synonymous with medical error is disseminated in the medical setting, which results in the acceptance and performance of dysthanasia practices.
Pereira, Rangel, Giffoni; 2019 ¹⁸	“Identificação do nível de conhecimento em cuidados paliativos na formação médica em uma escola de medicina de Goiás”	Brazil	Cross-sectional, observational	Medical schools are deficient in addressing the inevitability of death and bioethical issues in the curriculum, hence students are not trained to have end-of-life conversations with older adult patients.
Carter and collaborators; 2021 ¹⁹	“A rapid scoping review of end-of-life conversations with frail older adults in Canada”	Canada	Literature review	A clear and concise dialogue on the diagnosis of the older adult patient is crucial to achieve better clinical outcomes. Encouraging autonomy in conjunction with continuous dialogue determines greater survival for these patients.

Conselho Federal de Medicina SGAS 915, lote 72, CEP 70390-150, Tel.: (55 61) 3445-5932, Fax: (55 61) 3346-7384 - Brasília - DF - Brazil
E-mail: bioetica@portalmedico.org.br

Acompanhe os números deste periódico no seu leitor de RSS

[1] Correspondence: Najuah Sael Basheer Atari – Av. Vicente Machado, 1017, ap. 802 CEP 80420-010. Curitiba/PR, Brasil.