School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Front Public Health. 2021 Jan 15;8:609695. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.609695. eCollection 2020.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is affecting the population disproportionately and is continuously widening the health gap among the population. Based on some recent studies on COVID-19 and the older population, the various cascades toward health inequity have been projected. This study highlights how the COVID-19 is met by health inequity triggers, such as global trade inequality, ageist social regulations, and the existing social inequity. While those triggers are applicable to all the populations, there seems to be specific amplifiers for health inequity among the older populations. In particular, six types of amplifiers have been identified: (1) expansion of riskscape, (2) reduction of social ties, (3) uncertainty of future, (4) losing trust in institutions, (5) coping with new knowledge, and (6) straining on public spending. While the fundamental mitigating responses to health inequity among the older population is tackling existing inequalities, this study may help to shed light on emerging vulnerabilities among the older population to alleviate far-reaching consequences of COVID-19 of the identified inequity amplifiers.
新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）正在不成比例地影响着人群，并不断扩大人群中的健康差距。基于最近对 COVID-19 和老年人群体的一些研究，预计会出现各种导致健康不平等的级联效应。本研究强调了 COVID-19 如何受到健康不平等触发因素的影响，如全球贸易不平等、年龄歧视的社会法规以及现有的社会不平等。虽然这些触发因素适用于所有人群，但老年人群体似乎存在特定的健康不平等放大器。具体来说，已经确定了六种类型的放大器：（1）风险景观的扩大，（2）社会关系的减少，（3）未来的不确定性，（4）对机构的信任丧失，（5）应对新知识，（6）公共支出紧张。虽然解决老年人群体健康不平等的根本缓解措施是解决现有的不平等，但本研究可能有助于揭示老年人群体中出现的新的脆弱性，以减轻所确定的不平等放大器 COVID-19 的深远后果。
