Elderly in Ukraine during the war: situation, needs, examples of resilience

Abstract

The paper investigates the Ukrainian older adults’ social, economic, and humanitarian circumstances in the context of the russian war against Ukraine. It mainly analyses the challenges and needs of the elderly residing in regions affected by active hostilities, those who have experienced occupation, and internally displaced older persons. The main problems for older people in the areas of active hostilities and those who have been in the occupied territories are loss and (or) damage of housing; difficulties in evacuating, especially lonely people and those who lost social (family) support; destruction of institutions for the elderly and disabled as well as medical infrastructure; increased poverty and limited access to basic food, hygiene, and medicine, poor health; vulnerability to war crimes by the occupiers. For internally displaced older persons, the following problems are determined: the shortage of housing in slightly safer regions; limited financial opportunities for rental housing and meeting other basic needs (food, medicine, etc.); significant deterioration of health conditions forced by the physical and psychological trauma experienced and displacement during the war; living in temporary shelters with an increased risk of being placed in institutions for the elderly. There are some of the most urgent needs of older people in Ukraine in the context of war: various medicines and hygiene products; food and its delivery to the affected regions; transporting older people, including transferring them to the bomb shelters; increased need for medical care, psychological and social rehabilitation; help with home care and household chores. The paper underlines the resilience of older adults to the hardships they face, their high level of self-organisation and mutual assistance during russia’s war against Ukraine.

Keywords

• elderly people
• demographic ageing
• resilience
• russia’s war against ukraine
• urgent needs