JULY 18, 2018
The question of who will care for Puerto
Rico’s aging population is a growing crisis, says Dr. Angel Muñoz, a clinical
psychologist and researcher at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto
Rico in Ponce. The island’s elderly population is particularly at risk amid the
new Atlantic hurricane season, which runs through Nov. 30.
Earlier this year, a study by Harvard
researchers estimated that 4,600 Puerto Ricans died in the months after
Hurricane Maria hit last September. Many were seniors who faced delays in
getting medical care.
Meanwhile, projections show that one-third of
Puerto Rico’s population will be 60 or older by 2020, even as the number of
young people are increasingly fleeing to the mainland in search of employment,
often leaving behind aging parents.
“We have more [older adults] being left alone
to almost fend for themselves, or being cared for by other seniors, instead of
a younger family member,” said Muñoz. In addition, Medicaid does not pay for
long-term nursing home care in Puerto Rico.
KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney reports
in collaboration with “PBS NewsHour” on how difficult daily life has become for
this population.
No comments:
Post a Comment