Natural disaster and medication preparedness among elderly: a scoping review

TL;DR

This review explores how well elderly people are prepared for natural disasters, especially regarding medication, and finds that preparation improves with government or community programs.

Contribution

This study provides a comprehensive overview of medication preparedness for natural disasters among the elderly through a scoping review.

Findings

Most elderly people are not well prepared for natural disasters.

Government or community programs improve disaster preparedness among the elderly.

Few studies have focused on medication preparedness in this population.

Abstract

The increasing number of older people and their vulnerability to disaster and medication preparedness as the primary elements of disaster mitigation are necessary to reduce the impact of a disaster. Nevertheless, research on natural disasters and medication preparedness in the elderly population is still lacking. This review aimed to explore all reported research and publications related to natural disasters and medication preparedness among the elderly.

A scoping review was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). A literature search was conducted using the following four databases: Scopus, PubMed, Sage, and Google Scholar. Screening was conducted using the following criteria: articles written in English, open access, and published between 2020 and 2024. Articles must discuss natural disasters and medication preparedness. In the data search, we input several keywords that include “elderly,” “natural disaster,” “preparedness,” and “medication.” Snowballing was then conducted to find articles on preparedness interventions. Data extraction and analysis were then performed.

The findings from this literature review are the majority of studies showing that most elderly people are not well prepared in facing disasters; however, through various programs that have been implemented by either the government or community, the elderly show more preparation when they encounter any natural disaster.