ABSTRACT
In the light of the evidence provided in the preceding chapters, the authors revisit global responses to population ageing, particularly WHO's policies and work strategies, with the intention of finding out why the “grand vision” failed. Examining institutional structures at the time of the outbreak, the authors show that for over a hundred years, little efforts had been made in capacity-building to cope with a viral epidemic. There were many serious issues related to structure and organization of LTC facilities, and several OECD countries were facing challenges in recruiting, deploying and retaining sufficient numbers of well-trained health workers. Hospitals, too, stood as isolated units and suffered from inadequate protection of healthcare workers and staffing shortages. Little progress had been made in building capacity for palliative and end-of-life care. Also, many countries had poor conceptualization and data on ageing which impeded adequate and comparative analysis during the pandemic. As a result of such long-standing problems, older adult care was seriously impacted during the first surge of COVID-19.
