Puerto Rico is aging rapidly, driven by birth and mortality trends, but also emigration. Experts say the government is woefully unprepared for the challenges of having so many senior citizens.
“Puerto Rico is experiencing a demographic phenomenon not seen anywhere else before on the planet, and we don’t know yet what the consequences will be, not just for older adults, but for everyone on the island,” said Amilcar Matos-Moreno, a social epidemiologist. “If nothing changes, the repercussions will be severe in terms of mortality and quality of life.
“We don’t know what to expect, because no one in the world has lived this,” Matos-Moreno said, adding that about two of every five older Puerto Rico residents live below the poverty line. Though the death toll is much lower from the most recent storm, the Puerto Rico government is in no better position to prevent death in another prolonged power outage that could threaten the lives of its elderly population, according to data and experts.
But while the outlook is grim, researchers say, there is also evidence that the high levels of social cohesion in Puerto Rico’s more rural communities could offer solutions Mayris Ruiz Olmo, who leads the association, was hired by the municipal government to assess the damage household by household and to build a list of needs after the deadly 2017 storm to access federal relief funds. But what she found was a community of senior citizens who needed much more than pallets of bottled water or mosquito nets. They couldn’t access basic services.
“Is there anyone else around you who needs food, too?” she asked the bashful man. He demurred but then said he has some elderly neighbors who haven’t eaten in some time.After the storm, she and her motley crew of ladies found a wheelchair-bound amputee suffering from open-wound infections his wife couldn’t clean well because there was no water. They located an older gentleman suffering from depression who slept in his vehicle as gusts lashed it.
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