COVID_19 and elderly mental health

By S Adeeb Mujtaba Ali

The World Health Organization announced coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) viral infection as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. India is a nation with a large population of over 1.3 billion population, on January 30, 2020, India, announced its (covid-19) first occurrence. The Government of India has decided to impose a countrywide lockdown beginning March 25, 2020, for a period of three weeks until April 14, 2020, social connections and mobility were restricted. In this sense, older adults faced difficulties such as a lack of attendants to assist them with everyday activities, difficulty in obtaining medical assistance, and fear of an adverse path in current morbidity.

Many who are elderly and live in a typical joint family arrangement were able to enlist the help of other family members to cope with new challenges. Since four to five people live under one roof in a typical Indian family. In certain households, one or more individuals over the age of 60 are found, one under the age of 18, and two others in the middle age groups. Three generations are mostly seen living together, with 75% of them sharing the same house. This setup increases the risk of infection through aerosols. It was also reported that neighbors were accomodating the younger adults to quarantine in their premises to protect and save the elderly from infection.

However, the percentage of older people who live alone is steadily rising because their children moved to another city or country to earn a livelihood or to have better standards of living. This senior citizens rely on contracted housekeepers and primary care doctors in their communities for their everyday needs.

According to media reports, the number of individuals seeking support for mental health problems rose by 20% during the first week of the three-week lockdown.

Many Indians are stigmatized by mental disorders, and many tend to pursue treatment by herbal medicine. Multiple national and international actors have participated in mental health advocacy programs, openly announcing their mental illnesses and the benefits of psychotropic drugs, resulting in increased social recognition of mental health services in India.

 The latest COVID-19 virus pandemic has resulted in a surge in demand for psychiatric assistance. There are approximately 8000 mental health practitioners in India, the majority of whom work in cities. Mental health professionals are not readily available to aging people. They are prone to feelings of isolation and powerlessness. And if they survive the pandemic, they worry that the social order will be disrupted. 

In this scenario, the measures taken up by the governments and non-government bodies are commendable like moderating the news, crime cases, arrangement of virtual communication platforms for the elderly on zoom and Whatsapp calls, counseling helplines created by a cohort of mental health professionals, etc. 

Such online measures,  prove to be fruitful, especially for the aged, those with mobility problems, anxiety, and depression, those who lack access to healthcare, and those who live in rural areas. When harnessed, internet access for older adults will assist in the formation of online community groups, video therapy, and the development of medical and rehabilitation resources. The COVID-19 pandemic may thus turn out to be a blessing in disguise, hastening the deterioration of healthcare resources and access for India's population, especially the elderly.

Reference:

• Vahia, V. N., & Shah, A. B. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic and mental health care of older adults in India. International psychogeriatrics, 32(10), 1125–1127. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610220001441

COVID_19 and higher education since 2020

 By S Adeeb Mujtaba Ali

COVID_19  pandemic has not only successfully devasted economies throughout the globe but also disturbed the smooth-flowing education system in both developing and developed countries. It is plightful to know that around 1.5 billion primary, secondary and tertiary school-going students do not have physical access to schools. COVID_19 impact however was not only dramatic but also transformative. Transformative in the sense it has made educators/tutors come up with strategies to let not pandemics affect the teaching-learning process. But in the emerging market, it has given an additional challenge like finances and infrastructure. 

Key points to be noted:

•  Due to pandemic university courses are made online.
• A new teaching-learning model can be expected in near future.

Among the different levels of education facing their own challenges, it's higher education that has to revolutionize. Even though the students here are old enough to explore technology and navigate platforms but are the Universities following the traditional campus education system, ready to makeshift, in order to approach and engage students, in terms of technology familiar manpower and infrastructure? 

At present platforms like Zoom, Google meet, WebEx, etc are serving as major support and a major lifeline to universities, however, it was noticed that the educators- lecturers or professors are still struggling with the technology. They are still trying to get themselves familiarised with these platforms to host online classes or other virtual activities. Not only this, but the struggle is also in maintaining a classroom setting environment and rapport with learners. The experts advise them to find a solution because now this is new normal and in order to maintain quality of education without compromising they should buckle up. Apparently, the most constructive solution to deal with such an issue is to either make digital platforms like Coursera work for them or work with them.

 According to HolonIQ (a market intelligence firm), higher education comprises only 2% of the $2.2 trillion global higher education marketplace (ripening for disruption). 

Even before the onset of COVID_19, it's been observed that students were more inclined towards online courses offered by the universities in comparison with their traditional courses. Universities that started taking online courses as a threat are now trying to acquaint themselves with the online teaching and learning process. Since COVID_19 has introduced Edtech as new normal. 

The online solutions since 2020 were adopted unprecedentedly by educators across the globe which are however considered as an experiment at an infancy stage. It is expected to flourish in the coming days and the association between tech companies and universities will grow strong beyond the pandemic crisis.

The present situation, no doubt has been painful but it has also helped all the stakeholders (society, policymakers, educators, and learners) to understand and realize the shortcomings of our education system not only in developing countries but also in developed countries. 

In conclusion, like the first industrial revolution, which was responsible for  present education system, the emergence of digitalized education model is expected from COVID_19.