KI´s resource team “for the health of the population of older people during COVID-19” will hold a webinar where researchers from Belgium, Italy and Sweden will present follow-up data and other negative consequences on older peoples’ health due to the pandemic. The webinar is held in English.
During this seminar, the NEAR Director, Laura Fratiglioni, will talk about the collateral damage on life and health of older adults in central Stockholm and the NEAR Scientific Advisory Board Member, Professor Miia Kivipelto, will talk about the outbreaks impact on brain health and prevention strategies:
experiences from FINGER and World-Wide FINGERS
Wednesday 3 February, 11.45 AM–13.30 PM
On Zoom: https://ki-se.zoom.us/j/64989239565
KI’s resource group for the health of the elderly during covid-19 invites to a webinar where prominent researchers from Norway, Denmark and Sweden present and discuss the Covid-19 pandemic in relation to the organization of elderly care in each country.
(In respective language. Not in English)
Tuesday 10 November, 11:30AM–1:15PM
On Zoom: https://ki-se.zoom.us/j/61182752103
The areas in the Stockholm region that were the hardest hit by Covid-19 in the early pandemic phase during spring 2020, were characterized by a younger population in combination with lower socioeconomic status. This is shown in an article in British Medical Journal Global Health, by researchers from ARC/NEAR and the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet.
The findings can be important in the development of future shielding strategies against future resurgences of the COVID-19 infection or other pandemics.
Read the full article by Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga and coworkers (Open Access)
To hear more about this join the seminar on November 17th entitled: “COVID-19 seminar with Alessandra Marengoni, Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga and Giorgi Beridze” hosted by the Aging Research Center (ARC) using this link: Covid-19 seminar ARC
In a cultural opinion article in Dagens Nyheter, signed by NEAR’s Director, Laura Fratiglioni together with two other members of Karolinska Institutet’s special resource group for the health of elderly under the Covid-19 pandemic, urges local authorities to use the their expertise. With more research and education, in cooperation with regional authorities and municipalities, the situation on those nursing homes and facilities lacking in good care can be much improved, they argue.
Read the full article (in Swedish)
The webinar “Medical care of elderly during the Covid-19 pandemic, with eight months of experience” took place online on 12 October. The webinar (in English and Swedish) can be watched in full length below and the program here.
It was introduced by Professor Maria Eriksdotter and Ole Petter Ottersen, President of Karolinska Institutet. The opening lecturer was Professor Kaisu Pitkälä, University of Helsinki, who presented the successful Finnish work with controlling their Covid-19 outbreaks, their mobile testing teams and measures to mitigate the spread.
Experiences from the Stockholm geriatric health care was shared by Dr Martin Annetorp, who showed how useful data collection had been made despite the very difficult circumstances and Professor Dorota Religa, who pointed to the importance of frailty estimates in the care for the elderly.
In the final talk, Christian Molnar, head dr of the special care units in Stockholm, shared his experiences of the practical difficulties during the growing pandemic.
Professor Kaisu Pitkälä answering questions.
In an article in the largest daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter, the professors Anders Wimo (member of the NEAR steering board) and Bengt Winblad (member of the NEAR scientific advisory board) are strongly critical on the guidelines prescribing opioid substances rather than Oxygen treatment för elderly displaying shortness of breath due to Covid-19.
Read the article (in Swedish).
The resource group for elderly’s health with regard to Covid-19 at Karolinska Institutet is offering a lunch webinar on Monday, 12 October, at 11:45AM–1:30 PM. NEAR’s director, Laura Fratiglioni, will co-moderate the session on experiences from Finland. The webinar will be held both in English and Swedish (for regional reporting).
Professor Anders Wimo, member of the NEAR steering board, criticizes the guidelines formulated by Region Stockholm at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. By prioritizing elderly in certain groups for hospital care, those with dementia (who constitute a majority of persons within elderly care living in retirement homes) were left out.
Read the opinion piece in Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish).
The NEAR Director and Professor Laura Fratiglioni, NEAR Database Coordinator Alexander Darin-Mattsson, PhD, and the NEAR Scientific Coordinator and Associate Professor Debora Rizzuto are among the authors of the report entitled: “Beyond chronological age – Risk profiles, frailty and multimorbidity and vulnerability for Covid-19″ ” in Forte’s new series “Forte Fokus”.
The long-term consequences of the Corona crisis are difficult to predict and there is a great need to extend our knowledge. Even though many questions remain unanswered, existing knowledge can be indicative. In the series “Forte Fokus”, the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Forte) has asked a few researchers to summarize their research related to the pandemic.
The NEAR steering group member Ingmar Skoog, Gothenburg University, criticizes the maintained recommendations for 70+ individuals in Sweden, put forward by the Swedish public health authority. He opines that those showing no symptoms should be allowed to live by the same rules as the rest of the population, i.e. wash hands and keep distance.
