When natural disasters strike, older people are disproportionately affected. “So many factors make older adults more vulnerable to the extreme disruptions that storms, floods, and fires inflict,” says Darren Impson, President of Paul Davis Restoration of Tampa, Florida. “We take particular care to help older folks and accommodate their challenges. It’s a critical tenet of caring completely for people who are experiencing the worst time in their lives.”
Older adults require extra consideration due to limitations like these, which make disaster response more complex:
Higher Medical Needs and Disabilities:
These may include hearing and vision impairments, and chronic medical conditions that require regular assistance, medication and health services.
Isolation:
Older people are more socially isolated, live alone more often, and engage in less interaction with others. Furthermore, most Americans – nearly 98 percent, in fact – choose to stay in their own residences rather than moving to shared living quarters.
Mobility Issues:
The elderly often have slower locomotion, extended reaction times, balance problems, dexterity losses, and physical disabilities that require assistive devices like walkers, canes and wheelchairs. Their accident rates are far higher than younger populations and one in four older adults experiences a fall every year.
Financial Constraints:
Nearly half of older adult households lack the income needed for basic daily living needs, much less the financial flexibility to handle and respond to disaster impacts.
Low Connectivity:
Older adults are less digitally savvy, experiencing difficulties accessing information online or connecting with others via digital devices. They may lack skills, equipment, up-to-date software, and instruction. Research shows that this digital divide continues to widen as technology use increases.
Disasters cause many complications for older adults including, but not limited to, communication difficulties with caregivers, interrupted healthcare, scarce supplies and disrupted living spaces, as well as service and transportation delays. “At Paul Davis Restoration, we have a unique opportunity to help older people, and we work diligently to meet their specific needs,” Impson emphasizes. When things go wrong, we do what’s right.
