Cooperative Living November/December 2020 - 26

A New Normal
HealthyTake | by Bruce Horovitz, Kaiser Health News
What seniors can expect in
a post-vaccine world
magine this scenario, perhaps a
year or two in the future: An effective
COVID-19 vaccine is routinely
available and the world is moving
forward.
Life, however, will likely never
be the same, particularly for people
over 60.
That is the conclusion of geriatric
medical doctors, aging experts, futurists
and industry specialists. Experts say
that in the aftermath of the pandemic,
everything will change, from the way
older folks receive health care to how
they travel and shop. Also overturned:
their work life and relationships with
one another.
" Before COVID-19, baby boomers
felt reassured that with all the
benefits of modern medicine, they
could live for years and years. "
- Dr. Mehrdad Ayati, Stanford
University School of Medicine
" In the past few months, the entire
world has had a near-death experience, "
says Ken Dychtwald, CEO of Age Wave,
a think tank on aging around the world.
" We've been forced to stop and think:
I could die or someone I love could
die. When those events happen, people
think about what matters and what
they will do differently. "
Older adults are uniquely vulnerable
because their immune systems tend
to deteriorate with age, making it so
much harder for them to battle not just
COVID-19, but all infectious diseases.
They are also more likely to suffer
other health conditions, like heart
and respiratory diseases, that make it
tougher to fight or recover from illness.
So it's no surprise that even in the
future, when a COVID-19 vaccine
is widely available and widely used,
I
most seniors will be taking additional
precautions.
" Before COVID-19, baby boomers "
- those born after 1945 but before
1965 - " felt reassured that with all
the benefits of modern medicine, they
could live for years and years, " says Dr.
Mehrdad Ayati, who teaches geriatric
medicine at Stanford University School
of Medicine and advises the U.S. Senate
Special Committee on Aging. " What we
never calculated was that a pandemic
could totally change the dialogue. "
It has. Here's a preview of postvaccine
life for older Americans:
Dychtwald says, so there will be a
drumbeat to make them fluent users
of online health care.
1 in 3 visits will be telemed. Dr. Ronan
Factora, a geriatrician at Cleveland
Clinic, says he saw no patients age
60 and up via telemedicine before the
pandemic. He predicted that by the
time a COVID-19 vaccine is available,
at least a third of those visits will be
virtual. " It will become a significant part
of my practice, " he says. Older patients
likely will see their doctors more often
than once a year for a checkup and
benefit from improved overall health
care, he adds.
MEDICAL CARE
Time to learn telemedicine. Only
62% of people over 75 use the internet
and fewer than 28% are comfortable
with social media, according to data
from the Pew Research Center. " That's
lethal in the modern age of health care, "
24 | Cooperative Living | November-December 2020
Many doctors instead of just one.
More regular remote care will be
bolstered by a team of doctors, says
Greg Poland, professor of medicine and
infectious diseases at the Mayo Clinic.
The team model " allows me to see
more patients more efficiently, " he says.
" If everyone has to come to the office
and wait for the nurse to bring them in
from the waiting room, well, that's an
inherent drag on my productivity. "
Drugstores will do more vaccinations.
To avoid the germs in doctors' offices,
older patients will prefer to go to
drugstores for regular vaccinations
such as flu shots, Factora says.
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Cooperative Living November/December 2020

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