Liz Fuggle, design consultant at HammondCare, explains how a ‘cottage’ model of elderly care turned out to be a key ally in the fight against infection and isolation during the COVID pandemic
In September 2020, Melinda Gates stated in an article in The Guardian that: ‘This pandemic has magnified every existing inequality in our society.’1
This inequality was already starkly obvious to those in the aged care sector. Already vulnerable - and at risk of isolation, loneliness, and abuse - older people living in care homes were amongst the most susceptible to infection, accounting for up to 84 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths globally.
And they were at additional risk not just because of their old age, co-morbidities, and frailty, but because of their increased likelihood of presenting with atypical symptoms. Those with dementia were less able to communicate their symptoms – sometimes leading to late diagnoses.3, 4
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