In August 2017, over 700,000 Rohingya refugee people fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in fear for their lives. 1 in 5 were older people, who arrived with little or no belongings at the worlds largest refugee settlement in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Age International worked with local partner HelpAge Bangladesh to set up age friendly spaces in the camps. Equipped with latrines, and washing facilties they have developed into safe community spaces for older people, where they can also find help, healthcare and psycholgical support.
We worked with our local partner HelpAge Bangladesh, to adapt and enhance existing services provided in our Age Friendly Spaces, which includes healthcare and psychological support, to help them prepare for the virus and reduce its spread.
Community volunteers held sessions and worked in key areas within the refugee camp to raise awareness of the virus and infection prevention, to help delay the peak of the infection so that health systems were better able to cope when it came.
More than 3,300 older people attended awareness sessions and received important information
More than 15,000 older people were reached with accessible health messaging, preventative measures and disease information
The introduction of movement restrictions meant older people could no longer have easy access to our Age Friendly Spaces and receive health care and psychological support. The impact of COVID-19 and its consequences on older people's mental and physical health was reportedly huge. To ensure their needs would continue to be met we increased our outreach health teams, which compromised pharmacists, doctors and counsellors, to provide 'home-care' services.
We provided training to staff and community volunteers and provided masks, medical gowns, gloves and more to doctors, paramedics, physiotherapists, counsellors and other key frontline workers to enable them to continue to support older people without risking spreading the virus.
Many families are living in cramped squalid conditions within the camps, with limited hygiene and santitation resources. We distributed hygiene kits to the families of older people, to further help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Usually, older people in the camps require support with their mental health and wellbeing along with regular healthcare.
The COVID-19 pandemic increased the demand and necessity of counselling, so it was important to provide counselling to older people, their carers and family members.
To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protetct older people, handwashing stations were installed on the entrance of our Age Friendly Spaces. The most vulnerable older people received Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) alongside hygiene items.
Many families are living in cramped squalid conditions within the camps, with limited hygiene and santitation resources. We distributed hygiene kits to the families of older people, to further help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Learn how coronavirus has impacted older people in Bangladesh from our colleagues on the ground and the older people themselves.
Read more of the latest news and stories on our work in combating the coronavirus in low to middle income countries.
