Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Department of Sociology and Puerto Rico Research Hub, University of Central Florida, Orlando.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2021 Aug 13;76(7):e263-e267. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbaa186.
The COVID-19 outbreak has worsened the ongoing economic crisis in Puerto Rico by creating "parallel pandemics" that exacerbate socioeconomic and health inequalities experienced by its most vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, conditions on the island have been largely overlooked by national media outlets and the mainland U.S. population. Thus, this research report aims to draw attention to the disparate burden multiple and compounding disasters have on older island-dwelling Puerto Rican adults' health and well-being.
We characterize the lived experiences of the older population in Puerto Rico by incorporating data from multiple sources and contextualizing the effects of compounding disasters, the fiscal pandemic, and health care challenges to provide a more nuanced portrait of existing compounding factors that negatively affect the health and well-being of older adults in the era of COVID-19.
We highlight 2 main factors that exacerbate pre-pandemic inequities experienced by the older adult population amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico: (a) the impact of multiple and compounding disasters; and (b) health care challenges.
The human suffering of the Puerto Rican population is compounded by the consequences of fiscal austerity, increasing levels of income and wealth inequality, the debt crisis, significant emigration, and a dysfunctional health care system. Future governmental actions are required to lessen the burden of parallel pandemics on older adults in Puerto Rico.
新冠疫情的爆发在波多黎各造成了“平行大流行”，加剧了其最脆弱居民所经历的社会经济和健康不平等，从而使波多黎各正在经历的经济危机进一步恶化。不幸的是，岛上的情况在很大程度上被国家媒体和美国大陆的民众忽视了。因此，本研究报告旨在提请人们注意，多重和复合灾害对岛上老年波多黎各居民的健康和福祉造成了不同的负担。
我们通过整合来自多个来源的数据，并将复合灾害、财政大流行和医疗保健挑战的影响纳入其中，来描述波多黎各老年人口的生活经历，从而更细致地描绘出在新冠疫情时代对老年人健康和福祉产生负面影响的现有复合因素。
我们强调了 2 个主要因素，这些因素加剧了波多黎各老年人群在新冠疫情期间经历的、先前存在的不平等现象：（a）多重和复合灾害的影响；以及（b）医疗保健挑战。
波多黎各人口的苦难因财政紧缩、收入和财富不平等程度的提高、债务危机、大量移民和功能失调的医疗保健系统而加剧。未来需要采取政府行动，减轻波多黎各老年人面临的平行大流行的负担。
