Urban Aging , Social Isolation , and Emergency Preparedness

ifa global ageing 2010 VOL. 6 No 2 Socially isolated older persons are difficult to find. Like other vulnerable populations, they tend to be invisible. Unfortunately, it takes a crisis to bring the issues of social isolation and vulnerability among older persons to the policy agenda. For example, thousands of older New Yorkers were left dangerously isolated immediately after the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001 (O’Brien, 2003). Similarly, during the 2003 summer heat wave, there were 2,000 “excess deaths,” in Paris, mostly among persons age 75+ (ORS, 2003). In 1995, Chicago suffered a heat wave. Klinenberg’s “autopsy” of this disaster highlighted the importance of neighborhood characteristics since he found that socially isolated older persons had higher mortality rates in poor neighborhoods with abandoned lots than in equally poor, but more socially-connected neighborhoods (Klinenberg, 2002). Hurricane Katrina reminded us of how visible otherwise invisible problems can become. In 2003, the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) recognized that social policy innovations will be required to meet this challenge (ICMA, 2003). They urged local governments to “begin with an analysis of the distribution of population and amenities as these pertain to older adults and active living.” In 2007, the World Health Organization launched the Global Age-Friendly Cities Project, designed to encourage cities to assess how well they are responding to the needs of their aging populations1. Despite these calls for action, not enough has been done by cities around the world on this agenda, and too little is known about the spatial distribution of older vulnerable persons, including isolated persons across city neighborhoods (Glass & Balfour, 2003). This paper provides a critique of an individual approach to emergency preparedness for older persons and discusses the value of incorporating geographic needs analysis into the planning process. By Michael K. Gusmano and Victor G. Rodwin