Aging and COVID-19: Lessons Learned

Aging continues irrespective of event, location, and time; it is a process that does not stop or pause. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted the community of older adults as profoundly as any other community. However, communities are not homogenous and older adults as a community are different in their own ways (e.g., digital immigrant baby boomers who are generally not as tech-savvy as digital native millennials (Gen Y) and zoomers (Gen Z); generally have a higher risk of morbidity and mortality, lower physical strength and mobility, and greater vulnerability to public health crises as compared to their younger counterparts). As COVID-19 becomes endemic, it is an opportune time to reflect on the lessons learned from COVID-19 for healthy and seamless aging. This article sheds light on such lessons (i.e., implications for preparedness management and opportunity leveraging) emerging out of the latest articles published during COVID-19 in the current issue of Activities, Adaptation & Aging: Dignified and Purposeful Living for Older Adults.