The need of our senior’s program focuses on the recognition that as the aging population in Black communities continuing to grow, the increase of COVID-19 pandemic, experiences of financial hardship, isolation, and loneliness has negatively impacted Black and visible minority seniors in the Kitchener community.
The need of our senior’s program focuses on the recognition that as the aging population in Black communities continuing to grow, the increase of Covid-19 pandemic, experiences of financial hardship, isolation and loneliness has negatively impact Black and visible minority seniors in the Kitchener community.
In additions to the above noted challenges impacting Black and visible minority seniors, they are also experiencing increase in elder abuse and difficulties for seniors to meet Doctor appointment, fear of in-person grocery shopping, limited access to personal protective equipment including but not limited to increase financial fraud targeting seniors etc. Also, without wellness check on vulnerable seniors and those with disabilities, safety precautions, such as washing their hands, using personal protective equipment or practicing physical distancing maybe compromise. Furthermore, due to anti vaccine rhetoric, Black and visible minority seniors are reluctant to take covid-19 vaccine and those who have Covid-19 and need hospitalization may avoid it because they fear that, due to hospital triaging protocols, they may fall at the bottom of the ladder when it comes to receiving medical resources and attention.
Inaction to address these public health challenges will significantly impact this populations as they experience a period of psychological and emotional difficulties related to the consequences of Covid 19 pandemic. Therefore, addressing barriers to education and health and building the skills of seniors to learn and apply pandemic and health related preparedness and recovery support network will increase their sense of agency, personal independence, reduce experiences of abuse, isolation, loneliness and enable them to navigate safely during and after covid-19 restriction.
How the Community Capacity Building Network program objectives are achieved through this senior’s program is to organize wellness check on seniors and information sharing sessions focusing on the safety of Black, visible minority and immigrants’ seniors to adjust to Covid-19 environment during and after lockdowns and restrictions focusing on the following: