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African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine

On-line version ISSN 2071-2936
Print version ISSN 2071-2928

Abstract

OLAGUNDOYE, Olawunmi; ENEMA, Oluwayemisi  and  ADEBOWALE, Adunola. Recommendations for a national Coronavirus disease 2019 response guideline for the care of older persons in Nigeria during and post-pandemic: A family physician's perspective. Afr. j. prim. health care fam. med. (Online) [online]. 2020, vol.12, n.1, pp.1-3. ISSN 2071-2936.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/phcfm.v12i1.2512.

The older persons in our society are a special group of people in need of additional measures of care and protection. They have medical, financial, emotional and social needs. The novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) only exacerbates those needs. COVID-19 is a new disease, and there is limited information regarding the disease. Based on currently available information, older persons and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions may be at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Family physicians provide care for individuals across their lifespan. Because geriatricians are internists or family physicians with post-residency training in geriatric medicine, they are major stakeholders in geriatric care. The authors are concerned about the absence of a COVID-19 response guideline/special advisory targeting the vulnerable population of older adults. The management and response to COVID-19 will be implemented in part based on the local context of available resources. Nigeria has been described as a resource-constrained nation. Infection prevention in older persons in Nigeria will far outweigh the possibilities of treatment given limited resources. The aim was to recommend actionable strategies to prevent COVID-19-related morbidity or mortality among older persons in Nigeria and to promote their overall well-being during and after the pandemic. These recommendations cut across the geriatric medicine domains of physical health, mental health, functioning ability and socio-environmental situation.

Keywords : COVID-19; the elderly; prevention; national health policy; older persons.

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