Appointed as an additional member of the scientific council on February 17, the head of the geriatrics pole of the Montpellier University Hospital, Olivier Guérin, alerts local communities so that they take up the issue of preserving autonomy among seniors .
While the various confinements have strongly isolated the elderly, he calls for the help of all professionals, including specialized sports coaches.
Read also Covid-19: the elderly facing a "fourth wave of dependence"
Have the successive confinements had an impact on the mobility of the elderly?
OLIVIER GUERIN.
This phenomenon is complicated to quantify with precision, because there is a lack of markers and data for the evaluation of autonomy.
Despite everything, we can see it for those around us.
In my consultations, I also meet many families who are looking for personal services for their loved one who has become more dependent, and who have difficulty finding it, which undoubtedly reflects an increase in demand.
What I fear in reality is what is happening in front of us, an epidemic of loss of autonomy in many elderly people in the medium and long term.
For what reasons ?
For those under 75, confinement may have had harmful physical effects such as weight gain, but this is reversible. But when you're old, muscle mass is harder to rebuild, it disappears very quickly, and takes more time and effort to rebuild. When physical activity becomes strenuous, motivation to move is harder to find, especially when social ties outside have weakened, as may have been the case for isolated elderly people. In addition, there has been an increase in depressive states among seniors, which does not help give them the desire and energy to activate. Finally, with the crisis, the monitoring of patients with chronic pathologies has been turned upside down. A number of deprograms primarily affect functional surgery,which concerns many elderly people.
What to do about this?
We must intervene as early as possible in order to preserve autonomy. The World Health Organization (WHO) has created tools to assess what is called the fragility syndrome, which can lead to dependence, but this culture is struggling to take hold in France. It cannot all rest with the attending physician. Physiotherapists have taken up support for physical exercise for seniors, but we could mobilize many other players, such as coaches specializing in adapted physical activity. Local communities need to take up this issue. These are the departments that have the competence in matters of gerontology. The communal social action centers (CCAS) have so-called heat wave files in which isolated elderly people are listed.They could be used to identify priority audiences and carry out prevention, and collective coaching can be organized at the city level. In the event of an epidemic resumption in the fall, the most difficult will undoubtedly be to find a balance between the fight against the disease, and health restrictions which can ultimately have real consequences in terms of public health.
